'Super eyes, Super eyes' and 'Feel Good Factor' by Soap and Glory

I realised the other day that I religiously remove my make up and moisturise every night, yet I don't pay much attention to my eyes. On my usual mooch around Boots after work on Wednesday I came across my favourite S&G and picked up a few treats. 

I chose 'Feel Good Factor' purely because of its high SPF 25 formula. Because I'm so pale, I really need to protect my skin every day, not just in the summer. The cream has a lovely texture and it isn't heavy or greasy so it's perfect for day-to-day use. At night I use Clinique Moisture Surge to replace moisture lost after cleansing. 

£12 for 50ml at Boots.

I love the names S&G give their products. This is "Super Eyes, Super Eyes." From the second photo you can see it's a really smooth gel balm for the eye area, which moistens and tightens. With caffeine, pro-vitamin panthenol and aloe vera, this gel is light and cool on the eyes when applied, and the tightening effect isn't unpleasant at all. 

£9 for 15ml at Boots.

Boots are currently running a promotion where if you spend over £10 on Soap and Glory products, you get a free 500ml 'Foam Call' bath and shower body wash for FREE!

Can you recommend any other S&G skincare products? 

xxx

China Glaze

While searching for new colours, I found a wonderful little website called Raven Cosmetics and purchased a few new little beauties! Every order has 15% off, no matter what your total cost and postage is reasonable; as is delivery time. I'd definitely purchase from there again.

Be warned, this may be a long, picture-heavy post!

L-R: Stella, Wink, In Awe Of Amber, Champagne Bubbles

I've been wanting China Glaze's 'Stella' for quite a while now, so of course, I purchased that. I love this colour. It's a deep and rich purple with a magenta tone and looks fabulous. I currently have it on my fingernails and it only needed 2 coats to be completely opaque.

Now I can cross it off my Wish List!

Raven Cosmetics have a great Lucky Dip promotion, 3 China Glaze polishes for £12, and several others too. They're well worth checking out if you don't mind what colours you receive. With an individual value of around £39, this is a brilliant deal.

The first Lucky Dip polish is 'Wink.'

A nude/beige sheer polish with a very very subtle shimmer.

This is so sheer that I imagine you'd need 4-5 coats before it became anywhere near opaque. I've used it on my toes just as a bit of a shimmery-sheen. I'm more of a colour girl so perhaps this will be used as a base coat.

Secondly, 'In Awe Of Amber' is a polish I probably wouldn't have purchased if I had the choice, BUT after testing it out on my practice wheel it's a lovely bronze/amber shimmer. 

It reminds me of swatches of OPI 'Warm and Fozzie' from The Muppets collection, so on review I'm pretty happy that I own something similar. The glitter particles are smaller than in 'Warm and Fozzie' but I reckon it's pretty close. 

Lastly, from my Lucky Dip, we have 'Champagne Bubbles' from the Holiday 2011 collection which is a gold base with silver glitter particles. Again, in the bottle, it isn't something I probably would have popped in my basket but I may have changed my mind. Gold polish hasn't always been my favourite because I'm rather pasty and feel that it looks nicer on tanned or darker skin. However, with a black outfit and gold accessories it would look fab. The silver glitter looks lovely with the gold base and really show up on the swatch.

In my order was a free 4ml mini Nails Inc. polish, which was a nice gesture. 

I received 'Swan Walk' which is a lovely baby pink with a blue shimmery tone to it. It's very sheer so would need multiple coats to become opaque. 

I'm very happy with my first China Glaze polishes and I will definitely be purchasing from Raven Cosmetics again in the future! 

 www.ravencosmetics.co.uk

xxx

NOTD: Revlon "Black Lingerie" and OPI "I Lily Love You"

A little while back I mentioned layering my lovely 'I Lily Love You' over a navy blue or a black, but I forgot to take a photo at the time. This morning with a little time to kill, I decided to repaint my nails because I played around with tape manicures last night and painted each one differently so they looked horrendous!

I used to wear black nail polish all the time but recently I've stayed away as it seems too dark and gothic looking for my skin tone. However, with a little glitter, it doesn't appear so scary!

2 coats of Revlon 'Black Lingerie' and 2 coats of OPI 'I Lily Love You' sealed with a top coat.

After taking the photo it seems that one of my nails has been broken slightly and I didn't do a great job at tidying up around my cuticles. Rubbish.

 I ordered 1000 1mm AB crystal gems from eBay the other day for less than £1 I think and they came as I was painting my nails so of course I had to try them out! One thing that bugs me when I put crystals or gems on my nails is that when they're covered with top coat they seem to go duller and not so sparkly anymore. Does anyone have any tips or solutions? 

I think I'm a reverted black nail polish fan and I'll definitely be having black nails more often now I know they look so good with a layering of glitter. 

What do you think?

xxx

Weekend nails..

(Top left) Revlon's 'Grape Fizz' layered over 'No Shrinking Violet'

It was such a nice day today! Sat in the garden and painted my nails and soaked up some vitamin D.

(Bottom left) Friday night out: 'Lilac Pastelle' by Revlon with gems and acrylic bow. The bow got taken off half way through the night as it kept getting stuck in my hair. They may be cute but they're bloomin' chunky.

(Top right) I love my new blouse. Good old Primark strikes again. It's a lovely lilac pastel polka dot shirt with no sleeves. Wore it with my Gap 'treggings' (?!)  because it's longer at the back than the front and coral ballet pumps with my blazer. Smart-casual for a night in Wetherspoons!

Bottom right: Sunday snuggles with my dog and my re-discovered floral jeans. I bought these from Primark last year after the summer so I put them away and completely forgot about them until now. They're cropped just above the ankle with turn-ups so I couldn't wear them during the winter months. As soon as the sun comes out in Britain, everyone's rocking the shorts and flip flops!

I'm addicted to InstaPhoto on my BlackBerry, which is just another version of Instagram, so I seem to be editing and changing photos all the time!

xxx

G21 at Asda.

I don't know about you, but I can't resist having a peep in the clothing section at Asda whenever I go. Usually as soon as I mention supermarket clothing brands people give me a funny look as if to say 'really?!' However, the G21 range at George for Asda is lovely at the moment and right on trend. It's brilliant value and from the pieces I own, I can safely say they're well made too. 

Whilst being dragged round Asda today, hungover and just craving a lazy Saturday, I spotted a lovely butterfly print lavender dress which I knew instantly would suit my shape and it was just my style. 

Images taken from Asda's website

At only £10 I couldn't resist. It fits really nicely and suits my shape. I was a little worried that the waist would be too low but it sits well and defines the waist well. 

The G21 range is really lovely and is aimed at a younger audience, say teens to early 20's and available in sizes 8-20. Everything is on trend and at a really good price too, so there's no reason to be scared/embarrassed about shopping in supermarket clothing sections. I already own another  G21 dress which I love, so I'm sure I'll be having another peep next time I go shopping with the Mother. 

Rimmel '1000 Kisses' lip tint.

The newest addition to my make up bag is yet another lip tint. I really must curb my addiction to these babies! While applying my make up yesterday before work I thought a paler pink lip stain would look nice on days where I don't fancy bright pink lips. I already have Revlon's Just Bitten in 'Passion' so I opted for something a little paler. 

For one, I love how easy and simple lip stain pens are to apply. No mess or fuss, and it's just like drawing on lip liner. 

Rimmel 1000 Kisses in "100 Endless Blossom"

(Sorry about the shadow, my room is terrible for photos.)

The tint is a lovely neutral pink with a slight coral-y tone to it. It's perfect for everyday wear.

The staying power is really good and lasted a good 3-4 hours as it was still apparent when I finished work yesterday. The colour is really rich and if you use the balm on the other end of the pen it's smooth and moisturising on your lips. 

These retail for £6.99 in Boots, but I'm fairly sure I got mine for £5.99. Perhaps there's a special offer at the moment! A decent price for a brilliant product. 

If you have nothing nice to say, don't say anything at all.

That's what my motto has been for a while now, since the horrors of friendship fall-outs in secondary school. 

Obviously, everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but when it's a malicious comment totally unrelated to a post it's just downright out of order. 

I'm fully aware that some people find leaving nasty, bullying comments on people's social networking site profiles, Tumblr ask boxes and comments on blog posts purely for fun. FUN?!

If you find yourself to be one of those people, I'd get yourself to a psychiatrist because that's not healthy. 

From now on, I've removed the anonymous option and I've also enabled comment moderation. Anything malicious or unpleasant will be removed. 

Rant over, 

have a nice day!

xxx

Technic 'Prime It' primer.

Sad to say, I'm not a fan of this primer. I bought it a few weeks ago on my last trip to Coventry as my beloved Rimmel primer was running low. At nearly half the price of the Rimmel primer I thought it was worth a shot. However, I am a little more than disappointed. 

Technic "Prime It"

£3.99

It has a lovely shimmer to it and has a nice effect on your face, giving an illuminated look. The downside for me is when you apply foundation over the top. Instead of smooth and primed, my face felt almost rubbery and my foundation sponge seemed to drag over my face rather than glide. I tried it with my pan stik and liquid foundation so it isn't a problem with either of those. 

 I'll probably use it on days where I don't fancy foundation or during the summer to give a little shimmer. 

As it stands, it's sitting redundant in my make up bag, waiting for the day to redeem itself. I purchased a new Rimmel Fix and Perfect Pro yesterday so it seems that's what I shall stick with.

Has anyone else had this issue or is it just me? 

xxx

A few favourites...

Top Left: Model's Own 'In The Navy' and 'Lilac Dream' with LA Colors silver glitter striper

Top Right: 'In The Navy' again overlaid with Sally Hansen 'Spectrum'

Bottom Left: OPI 'Koala Bear-y' and LA Colors nail stripers

Bottom Right: OPI 'It's All Greek to Me' and 'I Lily Love You'

Soap and Glory... take #2.

I said I'd end up buying more! The 3 for 2 promotion tempted me...

Flake Away, The Righteous Butter, Sexy Mother Pucker.

I said in my last post that I was curious to try 'Sexy Mother Pucker' so I went ahead and bought one in Clear. I usually wear lipstain or lipstick so I didn't see the need for a coloured gloss. It definitely tingles and plumps my lips, but it is quite sticky so that's the only negative thing about the gloss. It's also not glass-shiny which is a good thing, and gives a nice slight shine. 

I went for the pump bottle lotion as I hate getting cream under my nails if I have to scoop it out of a tub.  The pump is so much easier! 

Some one has to stop me buying everything Soap and Glory related!

xxx

Following troubles?

If anyone is having trouble following this blog because it's a 'dynamic page', hover over the grey bar on the right and click on followers. From the other layouts I have seen there's a bar at the top to make it easy but this one decides to be difficult! 

xxx 

Revlon haul!

Ooh I'm so excited!

Splashed out on 5 Revlon polishes from my favourite £1 shop (again!) Honestly, any UK nail polish lovers should eye-up their local Poundland for decent brands at £1 a bottle. 

Left to right: No Shrinking Violet, Black Lingerie, Ruby Ribbon, Lilac Pastelle, Steel-her Heart.

I think my favourites of the 5 are 'No Shrinking Violet' and 'Ruby Ribbon' matte suede polish.
'Steel-her Heart' would look great underneath some glitter or crackle. 'Lilac Pastelle' so so pale and almost more baby pink than lilac but it's still lovely. All swatches above are 2 coats. 'Black Lingerie' and 'Steel-her Heart' could probably do with 3 for total opacity. 

I can't quite believe that they sell for £1 in there, and at £6.49 in Boots. Revlon is currently on offer in Boots however; 2 for £10 for the new season colours. If they had enough colours I could get 10 for £10 in good old Poundland. 

Barry M Touch of Magic Lip Paint.

Oh. My. Gosh. Since seeing Elizabeth's post on this wondrous little lipstick the other day I HAD to go and find it. And my oh my, it does not disappoint. I couldn't wait to try it so as soon as I got to work I unpeeled the wrapper with anticipation. 

Depending on the pH balance of your lips, the colour varies between pale pink and hot pink, and on me it developed to a lovely hot hot pink colour!

Photo Booth and Blackberry cameras aren't great but you get the idea. I am in love. It's so much brighter in real life. Think of the brightest pink you can imagine, but not quite neon and there you have it; the beautiful colour on my lips!

I purchased mine from Superdrug for £4.49 but Boots stock Barry M too. Basingstoke didn't have any Lip Paint whatsoever, only gloss :(

www.barrym.com

Have you tried this yet? If so, what colour did yours go? 

xxx

Princess nails: OPI I Lily Love You and W7 Sunrise.

I have no idea why the W7 polish is called Sunrise as it's a sheer pink and yellow-y shimmer. I guess a sunrise is that colour though. Never mind, I digress. 

Apologies for the bad photo and my Superman pjs, but this is the only photo I have to hand before I  picked the bow off. I have more on my camera I think, but I can't find the cable right now.

Just like I thought, the bow is rather chunky and kept getting stuck in my hair and caught on clothing. I was scared I'd do more damage to my nails so I took it off. 

OPI's I Lily Love You is such a pretty flaky glitter polish and has a very light pink tone to it. It looks pretty bright in the bottle but doesn't come out so bright on nails. I used W7's Sunrise as a base as it's nice and sheer but gives a pretty shimmer to my sad looking acrylic-less nails. Seriously, I haven't missed broken and chipped nails AT ALL! One thing I can do better without nails though is use the touch screen on my BlackBerry. 

I love these polishes together because they're subtle and pretty at the same time. 

I had a bit of a haul yesterday and bought 5 new polishes so I'll review those after work! 

Soap and Glory

It's official; I'm in love with Soap and Glory. 

It all started with a the "Soaperheroes" gift set I received from my boyfriend's Mama at Christmas and I've been in love ever since. Sounds sad but it's very true! 

As soon as I opened my small tub of "The Righteous Butter" I knew I'd be a massive fan. The smell is just beautiful and the cream is not greasy and heavy as I was expecting a body butter to be. Sometimes I just open the pot and sniff it, it's that good. 

RRP £13

Click image for link

In the 'Soaperheroes' gift set, there are small travel sized versions of 

The Righteous Butter

Clean On Me

Hair Supply

Girligo moisturising mist 

and 

Flake Away.

"Hair Supply" worked wonders on my bleached hair and made it smell so delectable. However, when I went to buy larger tubes with Boots 3 for 2 offer, I bought "Glad Hair Day" intensive conditioner by accident. No big deal though because they both smell lovely and work  like a dream. 

RRP £5.50

Click image for link.

My third and final treat was "Sit Tight" firming cream. This ingenious product works best when you're sat on your derriere and gives a funny tingly feeling to your bum and thighs, blasting cellulite while you do sweet nothing. Or working hard. 

It's a little expensive and I haven't noticed a massive difference just yet so I'll have to keep persevering. The tingling feeling is odd at first but you get used to it after 2 or 3 applications. It suggests application after showering and washing hands after use or they go tingly too and I wouldn't recommend getting it near your peepers! Ouchy. 

'Sit Tight'

RRP £14.50

Click image for link

I've pinched all these images from the S&G website, which you can visit here: 

www.soapandglory.com

I'm sure I'll be purchasing more lovely S&G goodies in the near future, and I'm curious to try the 'Sexy Mother Pucker' plumping lip gloss. What's your favourite S&G product? 

xxx

By the way, this is me!

I realised I hadn't posted a photo of my mug yet so here we go. Hello! 

xxx 

ELF order No.2

(Last post for today, I promise!)

Last week I placed my very first ELF (Eyes, Lips Face) order and was instantly won over by the quality of products, speed of delivery and general amazingness of the brand. The lovely people at ELF are running a Facebook promo where different codes for discount and things are given out when the amount of "likes" reaches certain milestones. 

When 310,000 likes were reached, a 20% off code was shared and I couldn't help myself. 

First up is another "Therapeutic Conditioning Balm" in Orange Creme for my Mama for Mother's Day. Mama P tried my Blackberry one and seemed to like it, so for a small sum of £1.20 (with 20% off applied) I thought I'd get her one. They're so small, mine fits in my purse so I can't ever forget it!

Studio Matte Eyeshadow in Nude:

Lovely nude loose eyeshadow, which comes with the little brush included. I like to use a nude shadow on my eyelids just to add a base to any other colour so it stays and allows the other colour to blend nicely. 

£3.50 

Click images for links.

Waterproof eyeliner pen in Ash:

I'm new to felt-tip eyeliners so this is my first one. I'm not a big fan of liquid eyeliner as it takes far too much time to dry and too much of my little patience so I thought a pen would be the next best thing. 

£1.50 in various colours. 

Lip Liner and Blend Brush in Nude Pink:

Lip liner is my new best friend! I wore this at work yesterday with my ELF mineral lipstick from my last order and the colour is an excellent match. Using the brush to blend in the line is such a good idea, as you can't see the harsh line around your lips if the colour is slightly off. 

£3.50

Complexion Perfection:

Hello new friend! This is a wonderful wonderful product and does exactly what it says on the tin.

ELF describes the product as a neutralizing powder and that "The lightweight formula evens out the skin tone and absorbs excess oil. The sheer formula brightens, mattes and neutralizes the skin"

...and that it does! I applied it before any foundation and noticed a difference straight away. Don't let the colours deceive you, as the powder is just a light bluey-white colour when picked up with the brush and it vanishes when applied to the face. 

I'm already a fan and I've only had it one day!

£3.50.

 I also purchased a cuticle pen but that's simply a cuticle pen containing almond and avocado oil. 

So there we have it; another happy ELF customer! I'm so happy I discovered this brand and I'm sure I'll be purchasing other bits and pieces as and when I need them. 

eBay bits and pieces...

Someone get me off eBay and away from the nail bits! 

This week I've had 3 deliveries; 1 ELF order and 2 eBay purchases. 

Yesterday my little acrylic nail bows came and my gosh, they are so cute!

There are about 60 bows in total, 5 of each colour. I think there are 11 different colours as 2 of the compartments have the same pink colour, unless they're very slightly different. They've got a lovely glittery finish to them and I can't wait to stick them onto my acrylic nails (when I get a new set.) 

£2.99 + postage.

Size-wise, they're quite chunky if stuck onto natural nails, and they stick up quite a way so I'm bound to keep catching them on everything in sight! You could obviously use them for other stuff, like customising phone cases or whatever, but I'll be using them for my nails. Just one on my ring finger nail or something like that. 

My second eBay purchase arrived this morning. I bought 10 rolls of striping tape because I've always seen striped manicures and nail art and been intrigued. These were a bargain at £1.34. Colours include gold, red, purple, electric blue, silver, green, white and magenta. 

No more eBay for a while from now on. I've got everything I need!

xxx

Sally Hansen "First Kiss" and "Delphinium"

On my way home from work last night I popped in to Poundland for a drink like I usually do, and couldn't help but check the beauty aisle for new polishes. From previous posts you may know that I do like a bargain and have picked up Sally Hansen and Revlon polishes for the measly sum of £1 each before. 

Last night I picked up "First Kiss" and "Delphinium."

Left: "First Kiss"

Right: "Delphinium"

I haven't had a chance to try these out on my nails yet as I'm trying to leave them alone for a little while so they can recover from 2 years of acrylics. *cries*.

"First Kiss" is a pretty coral pink and would look lovely on both pale skin and darker or tanned skin alike. I'm a big pink nail polish fan but seem to wear darker pinks mostly, so perhaps this will turn me to the lighter side! Pastel colours are big this spring/summer in fashion and accessories so I'm sure they'll be popular for nails too!

"Delphinium" is a grey based lilac creme polish, and looks so much more grey in the photo than it does in real life. I love Model's Own "Lilac Dream" so I'm sure I'll be absolutely fine with this one. The only  thing I'm concerned about is that because it's quite grey and my skin is so pale, it might make my skin look ashen and washed out so I will have to give it a try!

One thing I really like about these bottles is the rubber ring around the cap for extra grip. Good one Sally Hansen!

xxx 

Revlon "Grapefruit Fizz" and "Grape Fizz"

Morning! I've just realised these polishes have very similar names, but are obviously rather different colours. I picked these up in Boots about a week ago and haven't got round to reviewing them yet; until today!

I'm a big fan of Revlon nail polishes and can't resist looking at them every time I go to Boots or Superdrug. I really need to get out of this pink and purple nails rut I seem to be stuck in because they're the only colours I seem to go to every time!  

"Grape Fizz" comes from the scented range and kinda smells like grapes, but I'm not too bothered. In the bottle the colour is a deep purple shimmer with electric blue flashes, but on application it's very sheer and jelly-like. I tried it on my newly back-to-natural nails and it took 3/4 coats to become anywhere near opaque, so wearing solo isn't really an option for me. I smudged it before it could dry so I removed it straight away, but got a photo first, of course! 

Don't get me wrong, I love this shade, but I will be wearing it over another purple polish so it doesn't have to be layered 4 coats thick!

"Grape Fizz" left, "Grapefruit Fizz" right. 

"Grapefruit Fizz"

Again, another one of Revlon's scented polishes. This time, it really does smell like grapefruit and while wearing it, I couldn't stop sniffing my nails like a mad woman! It's a very pale baby pink shimmer, and again would probably need 4-5 coats to become anything like opaque. I applied this when I'd just removed my acrylic nails so there's a photo on my post about that. 

The swatch above shows just how pale pink it is, but it looks fine on it's own as it would just add some shimmer to natural nails without looking too pink. You could even use it as a French manicure pink if you wanted a lovely shimmer instead.

I decided to swatch both polishes over a darker colour to show how they'd look if used as a shimmery layer. 

Photo isn't great but you get the idea. I used Revlon's "Plum Seduction" underneath "Grape Fizz" and Model's Own "Pastel Pink" under "Grapefruit Fizz."

There we go! 2 more lovely scented nail polishes from Revlon. 

Which scents have you got? 

xxx