Thursday 27 March 2014

Nail Art Pens ~ Models Own V's Primark ~ A Comparison



Hello Lovelies, 

Today I have another comparison post for you, again I will compare 2 products claiming to do exactly the same thing but at a completely different price, today I am comparing nail art pens from the brand Models Own and from everyone's high street favourite Primark. 

Primark recently launched a cosmetics line called P.S. LOVE, there are a whole host of make up and nail products amongst other things in the range but I saw the nail art pens and thought I would try them, since I had my easy Christmas nail art series on my blog I have really enjoyed creating nail art looks and have been asked for more so keep an eye out for those. I bought 4 of the Models Own pens in their 50% off sale back in February to create more looks, so I thought I would try the Primark nail art pens too and compare them for you and let you know my thoughts on them both. 

About The Products ~ 

Both brands are very similar in style and concept, I'd say almost identical.

Both brands have a dotting type nib on one end of the nail art pen and then a thin brush at the other end. 

Both brands pens work by pushing the nib down a little to enable the product to come out at the nib end and unscrewing the lid off the brush end of the pen. 

Both brands contain 6ml of product. 

The Models Own nail art pens are £6.00 each and the Primark nail art pens are £2.00 for a pack of three, working out at 66p each. 

The Models Own pens come in 10 colours sold separately. 

The Primark pens come in packs of 3 colours, there are 2 packs available. 

Models Own Nail Art Pens
Top ~ In boxes, out of boxes
Bottom ~ Nib on pen, brush on pen 

Primark Nail Art Pens
Top ~ In the box, out of the box
Bottom ~ Nib on pen, brush on pen 

As you can see from both photographs, the pens are almost identical. The only real difference being the colour of the packaging and the pink pens being a different shade of pink. 

Trying Out The Nail Art Pens ~ 

I decided the best way of trying the pens out was to create the same nail art design using the pens, I decided on a lady bird nail art design so I could use the black and white nail art pens and I tested out the pink pens over a white polish. 

It was the first time I had used both brands of nail art pens, so this was a first impression of both brands as well as a test of how good the pens were. 

To create the lady bird nail art I would need to use both ends of the pens. 

First of all I painted the 'nail' with a red polish and then I used the black nail art pens, using the brush end of the nail art pen to create the black tip and line down the centre. I then used the nib end to create the 6 dots. Then I used the nib end of the white nail art pen to create the white 'eyes' and then the black for the 'pupils' of the eyes.

Ladybird nail art look ~ Left Models Own ~ Right Primark

Pink nail art pens over a white polish.
Top spots and 2 stripes below ~ Models Own
Bottom spots and 2 stripes above ~ Primark 


My Thoughts On The Nail Art Pens ~

The first thing I noticed with both black pens was that the bristles weren't even, both pens had a longer bristle poking out, it was worse on the Primark pen and it was nothing that a quick snip with some scissors wouldn't cure but it was noticeable and had I not snipped them off with the scissors I wouldn't have been able to use the pens. 

After sorting out the brush end of the pens I started on my ladybird nail art design, I immediately found the Primark brush easier to use, it created a thinner line than the Models Own which didn't particularly matter for this design but if I were wanting to create a more intricate look I doubt I'd be able to do it with the Models own brush. The line the brush created was much thinner and precise with the Primark pen than with the Models Own. 

Next I applied the spots to the ladybird, again the Primark pen won hands down over the Models Own, the thing I don't like about the Models Own pens is that to enable the polish to come out of the end of the pen, you push down slightly so the polish comes out, but it came out in a blob with more polish coming out of the pen than needed, creating a messy look. It was exactly the same with the white pen when I used it to create the eyes of the ladybird and the pupils. 

You can clearly see from the photograph above of the ladybird nail art that the Primark pens gave a much neater finish than the Models Own pens. If you look closely you can see how raised the black of the pupil is when I'd used the Models Own pen than with the Primark one because of how much product floods out of the nib when pressed down. 

When it came to trying the pink pens the first thing I noticed was the colour difference, the Models Own pen is much more of a neon pink and the Primark a fuchsia pink, on the Models Own Website the colour is described as pink and to be honest I wasn't expecting it to be neon, I was expecting more of a in-between pale pink and fuchsia if that makes sense? But it is neon, this isn't a massive problem to me but something I thought I'd mention.

Again the brush on the Primark pen was much thinner than the Models Own and to enable the polish to come through I pushed down slightly on the pen and the polish came out of the nib of the pen, but unfortunately again the nib flooded with colour from the Models Own pen. In the above photograph the stripes in the middle are 1 stripe across of the pen showing how thin they are and as you can see the Primark is a thinner stripe. 

In my opinion the polish works just as well with both brands and I didn't notice one polish being any better quality than the other. 

Overall Thoughts & Winner ~ 

The Primark nail art pens are a definite winner for me, they are so much neater in their application, the brush is much thinner giving a neater stripe and the polish doesn't flood out of the nib. They are much easier to use than the Models Own pens and I would definitely recommend them over the Models Own pens any day of the week. 

The price of the Primark pens is a definite winner for me too, with the Primark nail art pens working out at 66p each and the Models Own being £6.00 each, a plus point for the Models Own is that you can buy the colours separately and with the Primark pens you have to buy the set of three and might not want one of the colours but to be honest it is still £1.00 cheaper to buy the whole set of Primark pens than one of the Models Own pens so it's more than worth it to buy the set of Primark pens even if you won't use one or two of the colours. 

The only thing I would change is that maybe Primark sold the nail art pens separately and in some more colours, at the moment there are 2 packs of 3 pens available but hopefully that will change as the cosmetics line becomes more popular, but to be fair with the colours available you can create some lovely looks so it isn't too much of a problem. 

If you are on the lookout for some nail art pens I would certainly head down to your local Primark, they do exactly the same thing but a much better job than the Models Own pens and are a fraction of the price, what's not to love? 

If you do want to try either of the nail art pens, the Primark nail art pens are sold in Primark stores and retail at £2.00 for a pack of 3 nail art pens and the Models Own nail art pens are available on their website. 

Please feel free to leave me a comment, I love to read your thoughts and recommendations and I always reply to all my comments. 

Thank you for reading, much love as always, 

Zoe x











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Saturday 22 March 2014

Leighton Denny ~ Temptress


Hello Lovelies, 

I love painting my nails and even though I already have far too many nail polishes I do still like to buy new ones, just after Christmas I found a Leighton Denny nail polish in the sale which had been £11.00 full price and was on sale for just over £6.00, so at almost half price I decided to bite the bullet and go for it. 

I have only ever had one Leighton Denny polish before, Angel Dust which is a beautiful subtle sparkle top coat review here. I also bought that back in the end of summer sales. 

I've heard a lot of great things about Leighton Denny nail polishes, and the brand itself claims "the polish is easy to apply, long lasting and chip resistant, it doesn't fade and keeps a high gloss shine day after day" it sounded good to me and the colour of Temptress looked so lovely and like nothing I've ever tried before and with the great price tag, I couldn't resist.

Temptress is a very dark purple/brown colour with a gentle gold coloured glitter running through it. It is very dark on the nails and looks almost black, it is described by Leighton Denny as "a seductive twist on the classic rouge noir, a vampish irresistible dark brown with added show stopping tones of cerise and ruby glitter." I would say their description of the polish is quite accurate although I couldn't spot the cerise and ruby tones, it just looked like a very dark polish with gold glitter to me, but a lovely polish all the same. 

When my polish arrived I was really pleased with how it looked in the bottle, I did think it would be more of a dark burgundy/purple tone on the nails but I wasn't disappointed when I applied it to my nails. The polish applied well and was easy to apply, as always I used my Orly bonder base coat first and then 2 coats of Temptress followed by a coat of my Orly Glosser top coat, I always use the bonder base coat and glosser top coat with all my polishes so to give the polish a fair trial, I used the base and top coat as I always would. I would say the drying time of the polish is average. 

Two coats of Temptress with Orly Bonder base coat and Orly Glosser top coat
(excuse the plaster cast) 

Tempress (2 coats) plus Glosser top coat & Bonder base coat.


My Thoughts On The Polish ~ 

I thought the polish was a lovely colour and quite unusual, it was easy to apply and applied well. The polish had an average drying time, I wouldn't say the polish was high gloss finish but it did have a nice glossy finish to it, with my Orly glosser top coat however the polish had a lovely high gloss finish and the top coat really enhanced the glitter within the polish. 

The one thing I was extremely disappointed in was the wear time of the polish, it chipped after only 24 hours, I was really disappointed with the polish, and expected more, although I didn't pay full price, this is an £11 nail polish and I expected more wear time from it than only 24 hours, I get 24 hours wear time from a £2.99 Barry M polish without a base and top coat and with my base and top coat I get 4-5 days wear so for this to chip after just 24 hours didn't impress me at all.

I had high hopes for Temptress, I've heard great things about Leighton Denny and for the price I really did expect more, I can pay up to £11 for an Orly nail polish but I get at least 7 days wear time from an Orly polish so I don't mind the price tag and the bottle is 18ml and doesn't contain nasties. The Leighton Denny polish is 12ml in size and £11 so almost £1 per ml of polish which I think is expensive. 

Overall I was really disappointed with this polish and wouldn't re purchase it or any other colours from the brand, my experience has really put me off. For the price I expected more than 24 hours wear time from the polish, it is a lovely and quite unusual colour but not one I will ever re purchase. 

If you would like to try Tempress it is available here for £11.00 including free delivery.

Have you tried Leighton Denny nail polishes? What did you think? Did they chip on you?  

Thank you for reading, much love as always, 

Zoe x









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Jewel Candle ~ Review




Hello Lovelies,

A couple of months ago I was contacted by a lovely gentleman called Tom from a company called Jewel Candle, he explained they were a new company and asked if I would like to review one of their products, he sent me links to their website and Facebook Page and after going over to read about the Jewel Candle I immediately said yes I'd love to.

Jewel Candles are scented candles with a difference, I have never seen anything like them before and was very excited to try one out. They are hand made scented candles with a 'Jewel' in every candle. The candles come in 2 sizes, the large candles retail at £24.95 and have a ring concealed within the candle, the smaller candle retails at £16.95 and have a pair of earrings concealed within the candle. Each item of jewellery is worth between £10.00 and £250.00 so these items aren't cheap rubbish. Each item of jewellery comes with it's own little tag telling you how much your item is worth. It's all very exciting!

The jewellery is 925 real sterling silver and stones, real pearls, beads and Swarowski crystals are used as eye-catchers all the jewellery is nickel free also. The candles burn for up to 150 hours and it takes on average 10-15 hours of burning time to reveal the jewellery.

I was kindly sent the large candle in Pina Colada scent, as you know I love Pina Colada's and also fruity scents and I was initially torn between the Pina Colada or Passion Fruit so I emailed Tom and said I would be happy with either scent, Tom chose Pina Colada and the candle arrived just a few days later.


Pina Colada Large Jewel Candle rrp £24.95*


I was very excited when my candle arrived and couldn't wait to burn it, I wondered how the jewellery would be concealed in the candle it really intrigued me, but when the candle came it was clear where the jewellery was and how far down the candle it was. 


The back of the candle showing where the jewellery is.

My candle burned for around 13 hours before my jewellery started to show, there are clear instructions on the Jewel Candle Website on how to remove the jewellery from the candle. I used some old tweezers and placed the little foil parcel on some kitchen roll. 

The little foil parcel containing the jewellery & the tweezers I used.

Once I had removed the jewellery, I unwrapped the foil parcel containing the ring, I would advise you do this over some kitchen roll or a napkin or old rag as some wax did fall off as I unwrapped mine. Once I had removed the foil I found a little black plastic self seal bag and in that was my ring. I thought the ring was very well protected and wrapped but found it easy to open the parcel without needing scissors or any other tools. 







As you can see from the above photographs, the ring I received is lovely, it is sparkly, which is something I love and also wearable, I could wear the ring on a daily basis without it looking too OTT, my ring is worth £15.00. It is a really pretty ring and I am very happy with it. I love the design of the circles and the Swarowski crystals too. 

I think the Jewel Candles are a fantastic idea and would make a lovely gift for someone, or just as a treat to yourself. Scented candles are very popular and often given as gifts and I think the Jewel Candle would make a lovely gift for someone, you have a lovely candle and an added gift of a piece of jewellery too. 

The scent of my candle, Pina Colada was a very subtle scent which for me is great as scented candles can give me migraine headaches, and I am also having a massive problem with some scents due to my medication, so the nice subtle scent of fruit was lovely, I did think it would have more of a pineapple/coconut scent as they are the main ingredients of a Pina Colada but the scent was more of a fruity/pineapple scent but still a lovely scent, as I mentioned it is a very subtle scent so if you like more of an obvious scent maybe choose one of the other scents, but if you're like me and like something subtle and fruity, then the Pina Colada could be for you. 

The candles come in a variety of scents, the candles with the earrings in come in 9 different scents, these are:

Happy Birthday
Lemon Grass
Watermelon Wedge
Strawberry Cupcake
Cuddle Candle
Vanilla Apple Pie
Ice Cream Vanilla
Creme Brûlée
Hawaiian Coconut

And the candles with the rings in come in 6 different scents, these are:

Sweet Cupcake
True Love
Pink Cherry
Happy Birthday
Pina Colada
Passion Fruit

So as you can see there are lots of different scents to choose from, I really was spoilt for choice as the scents available are all the sort of scents I would go for in a candle. 

As I mentioned, Jewel Candle have their own website and something I really like about the website is you can pay via Paypal, I find it so much easier when ordering online when I can pay via Paypal as I don't have to start finding my debit card, but if you don't have Paypal or prefer to use a bank card, there are options to pay with various cards. 

Shipping is via Royal Mail and is estimated at 2-3 days, there are free shipping offers too, on the website there is a FAQ section, photographs of some of the jewels found in the candles and clear instructions of how to remove the jewellery from the candle amongst other things.

Jewel Candle also have their own Facebook Page with lots of information, there are photographs from customers showing the item of jewellery they received in their candles and there are some gorgeous pieces, really lovely. There are also competitions to win candles too, and comments from people who have bought the candles so you can read their opinions also. 

I love the concept of the Jewel Candle, I think they are fantastic and would make a brilliant gift, and after all Christmas is only 15 weeks away or something frightening like that! If you know someone who loves scented candles this would be a lovely gift. Or if you love scented candles, you could treat yourself to one, which scent would you like to try? 

Over all I was very impressed with the Jewel Candle, I love the idea and the ring I received is lovely. 

Thank you for reading, much love as always, 

Zoe x



*pr sample, I received the Jewel Candle as a gift for review purposes, but all opinions and words are my own. 














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Thursday 20 March 2014

My Spring Pastel Picks By George At Asda

Hello Lovelies,

On Saturday my friend Rachel and I were discussing clothes and clothes shopping and in particular she was telling me how Asda have some nice things in at the moment, so I decided I'd have a look online and see if they had anything I liked the look of and I found a few things that I thought would be perfect for the spring so I thought I'd share them with you.



Top row left to right ~ 

G21 Tux Blazer ~ £15.00 - This lovely baby pink blazer is available in sizes 8-20. It's perfect for spring, a gorgeous on trend pastel pink that would suit many skin tones and all ages, I love the open front design without buttons. The texture of the fabric is a waffle type fabric so a little thicker for those days when it's still quite cool. This would look lovely worn with some skinny jeans, a simple white tee and a lovely coloured statement necklace, it could be dressed up with heels or down with flats, and even wear with some white converse for a much more casual look, ideal for many occasions and a brilliant price too. 

Chunky Chain Gem Necklace ~ £10.00 - How lovely is this necklace? This caught my eye immediately, I really like pastel blue and find I'm drawn to things this colour more and more recently. I love statement necklaces and last summer I bought a couple and wore them a lot and I have seen quite a few I like already for spring/summer, there are some beautiful ones in Accessorize but they're quite expensive, this one is lovely and at £10 no where near as pricey as some I've seen which have been well over the £25 mark. I like to mix pastels and I think this would look lovely worn with a plain white tee and the pastel pink blazer with some skinny jeans, it really is lovely. 

Roll Sleeve T-Shirt ~ £4.00 - This is a real bargain at only £4.00, I have seen this t-shirt in the flesh and it is a lot brighter in colour than it looks here, it is much more neon that pastel but it's lovely and for £4.00 it really is a bargain. I love neon colours, I think they really brighten up an outfit. I would size up with this making it over sized and wear it with either leggings or skinny jeans and my converse or for a more smart/casual look I'd wear some ballet pumps and a nice statement necklace, this is a simple piece but a great addition to any spring wardrobe and a fabulous price too. This t-shirt comes in sizes 8-24. 

Top row left to right ~

G21 Sleeveless Floral Shirt ~ £12.00 - I love this top, it's really pretty, again in the gorgeous pastel blue. It has really nice jewelled detail on the peter pan collar, the jewels are in a cream and pink/coral colour and add a really pretty detail to the top. This is another great price, this would be far more expensive if sold in Topshop for example, it's something that again can be dressed up or down and worn with many different pieces. I'd wear this with skinny jeans or jeggings, or tucked into a high waisted skirt or trousers, it could be worn with a suit for a smart look also. It's a very versatile piece and perfect for spring and because of the lovely jewelled detail on the collar, no necklace is needed. The top comes in sizes 8-20. 

Floral Embroidered Ballet Shoes ~ £10.00 - These are so pretty and come in a few colours so theres bound to be a colour you'll like. I have seen this style of ballet pumps on a few websites now so I think they're going to be a popular and fashionable item for spring/summer. Obviously not the most practical of shoe being textile uppers and with the amount of rain we have in the UK but lovely all the same. I couldn't make my mind up which I liked best between this colour and a coral colour but I have some coral patent ballet pumps that I bought last summer, also from Asda, so I opted for the aqua. I love the flower design on these shoes, they're really pretty and I think they would look lovely with lots of different outfits and add a nice summery feel to any outfit, as long as it isn't raining that is! The shoes are available in sizes 3-9. 

G21 Scallop Shorts ~ £12.00 - These pastel pink scallop edge shorts are lovely, I'm not quite sure I'd be brave enough to wear them, too old and too chunky springs to mind but they are lovely, I love the scalloped edge detailing and think they could be worn dressed up or down for a smart or casual look. They have a side zip fastening so give a nice soft flat front, perfect if you want to tuck a top into them or wear a cropped top, not that I would ever be rocking a cropped top! If I were ever brave enough to wear them, I would wear them with a pastel coloured cami top, maybe pastel blue or mint and some barely there sandals for a smart look and a vest top/t-shirt and ballet pumps for a more casual look. They are available in sizes 6-18 and really are a fantastic price.

So those are just a few items I spotted on the George at Asda website, but to be honest they had a lot of nice items, there's some lovely spring knitwear and lovely maxi dresses too, I would definitely recommend you pop over and have a look, click here to be taken to their website. 

Which item of my picks is your favourite? Are you loving the pastel trend? And do you buy clothes from the supermarket or is it strictly for food shopping for you? Do you have any clothing recommendations for me? 

Please let me know your thoughts in the comments, I answer all my blog comments so please feel free to leave me a comment and I'll get back to you, and be sure to check back to see my replies :) 

Thank you for reading, much love as always, 

Zoe x









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Tuesday 18 March 2014

POREfessional v's Baby Skin ~ Are they a dupe?


Hello Lovelies, 

I have a comparison post for you today, as you have probably already guessed from the title and the photograph, I am comparing the Benefit POREfessional and the Maybelline Baby Skin

I have seen numerous blog posts which claim the Baby Skin is an "exact dupe" for the POREfessional, I was lucky to be given the porefessional for Christmas from my lovely girls, something I had wanted to try for a long time.  I picked up the baby skin in January after reading the blog posts claiming and exact dupe as I wanted to see for myself if the products were actually the same or at least very similar, I have been trying both products out over the last couple of months and thought you might be interested to hear my thoughts.

About The Products ~

Both the Benefit and the Maybelline claim to smooth skin and minimise the appearance of pores and fine lines, this is something I struggle with,  I hate the pores on my nose and chin and I'm at an age now where those pesky fine lines are a bit of a problem so anything that can minimise the appearance of either is appealing to me, but a product that claims to minimise both problems, come to Mamma! 

Both products contain 22ml of product and both come in a tube, (the benefit tube does also come in a box). The benefit retails at £24.50 and the maybelline retails at £7.99 and the maybelline can often be found as part of a buy one get one half price or 3 for 2 type deal in high street stores. 

The porefessional is a nude coloured product with an obvious scent to it but a scent that doesn't linger where the maybelline is clear with a very faint scent. 

Both products can be worn under make up or alone to even out the skin but the porefessional can also be applied over make up.

Benefit POREfessional 

Maybelline Baby Skin


My First Impressions On Both Products ~ 

I have never liked primers as such and never ever bought a primer either, as a blogger/youtuber I have tried a few different ones but never liked them, I have very dry skin so maybe that's why me and primers have never gotten along as they are usually marketed towards more oily skin.

My make up stays put pretty much all day and apart from my pores and fine lines, I've never really worried, that is until around November/December time when my foundation started to go patchy throughout the day but just on my chin, very strange. I've used the same foundation, the Illamasqua Skin Base for years and it's always been fine until then, and I put the sudden patchiness down to my skin changing due to my medication as this is often the case. I was hoping that the porefessional and baby skin might be able to help me with my patchy chin problem as well as my rather horrible visible pores and even more horrible pesky fine lines. 

I applied both products in the same way, rubbing them in to my chin, my nose, my pesky fine lines at the sides of my eyes and also my forehead on particularly dry skin days. I then applied my make up and left it without checking on it or touching up at all throughout the day, I usually apply my make up at around 9am and remove it at around 7pm to give you an example of how long I wear my make up. 

The first thing I noticed about the baby skin was that I didn't like the feel of it at all, it feels very silicone like, and if I were to compare it texture wise to another product I've tried, I'd say it felt like the Smash box photo finish foundation primer, I really didn't like the texture of it at all, it felt greasy when I applied it, and I found myself wiping my hands on a tissue to remove it. The porefessional is much more silky in texture and applied much better and didn't feel at all greasy. 

I liked that the benefit has a colour to it, it is nude in colour but dries to a translucent finish, it isn't a major thing but something I preferred and since this is a comparison and a review of my thoughts I thought it was worth mentioning, I also really liked the scent of the porefessional, again not a deal breaker but worth a mention. 

Both products left a matte finish to the skin, the porefessional left my skin feeling soft and smooth but unfortunately the baby skin left me feeling a little greasy, I have very dry skin so I can only imagine if you have oily skin this might be more of a problem for you than it was for me. 

I didn't really notice much difference at all in my make up application after using either product, my foundation applied as well as it always does, I didn't experience any problems at all when using either product. 

I would say that both products would last a long time, they are the same size, both 22ml as I mentioned but with both products I only needed to use a small amount, a little goes a long way with both products, and I must admit when I first saw the size of the tube of the porefessional I was shocked, especially in comparison to the size of the box, but I needn't have worried as the tube will last a long time I'm sure, I've had my porefessional almost 3 months and I've hardly made a dent in it. I didn't need a lot of product with either brand, a pea size amount was enough for my chin and nose area. 

I continued to use both products over a period of around 2 months to give both products a fair trial. 

And the winner is .........

The Benefit POREfessional, without a shadow of a doubt this was 100% better than the Baby Skin in my opinion and unfortunately for my purse, the Maybelline Baby Skin is most definitely NOT a dupe for the Benefit POREfessional, they are totally different in texture, the baby skin is a lot more silicone feeling and to me feels exactly like a silicone primer, where the benefit feels silky, they really are not the same.

My make up at the end of the day just before removing it was so much better with the porefessional, the foundation on my chin hadn't slid off or gone terribly patchy and my nose looked so much better, it even helped my foundation to look better on the extremely dry patches on my forehead too, the porefessional contains vitamin e so I would imagine that helped with my dry skin, it is an oil free product so if you have oily skin this may be helpful for you but obviously I can only speak for the dry skinned of us. 

I have to say there was a slight improvement with the baby skin but not enough for me to re purchase I'm afraid it was only slight and the way it leaves a greasy feel on my skin puts me off, it isn't something I will re purchase and I won't continue to use it either. 

Overall I am very happy with the porefessional, it helped with my pores and my patchy chin problem and even helped my dry skin problems too, I wouldn't say this is a miracle worker and your pores totally disappear but it certainly helps to minimise them, it basically does exactly what it says on the tin. It smoothed my skin, minimised my pores and fine lines and helped my make up to stay put, I was happy with the results and would re purchase it, I just wish it was a little more affordable, but as I said I think the tube will last me a long time so price per use wouldn't be much at all I imagine. 

The baby skin for me just wasn't nice at all, far too silicone like, left a greasy feel to my skin and didn't do enough of a job of minimising my pores or helping with my patchy chin problem, I'm afraid it was in my opinion a waste of £7.99, if you like to use silicone based primers and want to find a cheaper alternative to a high end product,  this might be for you but if you want it to be an "exact dupe" of the professional, you'll be very disappointed. 

If you would like to try the porefessional it is available here for £24.50 for 22ml or here for £24.50 for 22ml (this site includes free delivery) and if you want to try the baby skin, it is available here and currently on a buy one get one half price deal or here where it is currently on a 3 for 2 deal. 

Do you have any beauty dupes? Did you buy the baby skin hoping for a porefessional dupe? Let me know your thoughts in the comments, I always reply to all my blog comments so please feel free to leave a comment. 

Thank you for reading, much love as always, 

Zoe x














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Monday 17 March 2014

Bio Beaute ~ Nuxe High Nutrition Hand Cream


Hello Lovelies, 

If you read this blog post recently, you'd have read that around 6 weeks ago I was contacted by an online pharmacy Farmaline asking me if I would like to choose a skin care product to review for you all, I am already familiar with Farmaline because I buy my beloved Serozinc (review here) from there and they are a great company selling lots of skin care products,  some of which we can't get here in the UK, so I was really pleased when they asked me if I'd like to choose a product. I was very surprised and pleased when a box full of goodies arrived from Farmaline, it included the Vichy moisturiser I'd chosen and a whole host of other products including the Bio Beaute Nuxe High Nutrition Hand Cream* and something I was more excited about than I probably should have been, a Farmaline pen! 

As you will all probably know, I broke my wrist in 2 places on 16th December 2013 and was in plaster for 9 weeks, when I had my plaster removed on 14th February my arm was extremely dry, it really was a horrible sight and I couldn't wait to try and restore it back to it's former less scaly and lizard like appearance. I received the Nuxe hand cream before my plaster was removed but I'd kept it specifically to use once the plaster was removed, I have broken bones previously and knew how dry my skin would be when the cast was removed and I thought it would be a perfect test for the Nuxe hand cream, and it was. 

My Thoughts On The Bio Beaute, Nuxe High Nutrition Hand Cream ~

Before trying the hand cream my hand was very dry as was my arm it was awful very scaly and flaky, and I had 2 little patches of hard skin on my thumb and little finger where the cast had been rubbing.  I did use the cream on my arm as well as my hand,  but my hand was especially dry and much worse than my arm, to be honest I didn't hold out much hope and wasn't expecting much in the way of an improvement.

The first thing I noticed when I applied the hand cream was the scent of it, it has a lovely almond scent to it, it isn't overpowering and doesn't linger, I am a bit of a funny onion when it comes to scents and this was fine for me, just enough so I could smell it on application but not too much and once rubbed in I couldn't smell it. 

The hand cream applied well and rubbed in effortlessly, it isn't a very thick cream nor is it thin or runny, it is a nice consistency and rubbed in well and didn't leave any sort of oily or sticky residue as some hand creams do, to be honest I am a bit funny when it comes to hand cream, I don't like the feeling some of them leave and hate having to wait around to put my rings back on as I always remove them to apply hand cream,  since the jeweller who made my engagement ring told me that hand cream is the worst possible thing for platinum and diamonds so a handy little tip there if you wear rings. 

The hand cream is free from parabens, always something I like to see in products I use, it contains some organic ingredients too so it is a very natural product, the main certified organic and or botanical ingredients are ~

Organic Sweet Almond Oil
Organic Beeswax
Organic Rose Water
Organic Jojoba Oil
Organic Shea Butter
Coconut Oil

These are all lovely ingredients and all very nourishing too, and ingredients which clearly contribute to the lovely scent of the product. 



I was very surprised at how fast the hand cream softened my incredibly dry skin, I made a point of not exfoliating my arm before using the cream and haven't done since, my arm was very soft and smooth and visibly 100% different after just one application. The hand cream is for dry and chapped hands but I honestly wasn't expecting the results I got from the first time of using it. I found the hand cream to be very soothing on my skin, my arm was very sore at first after having my cast removed so it was nice to use something so soothing to my skin. The hand cream dries fast which is brilliant and as I said there is no oily residue or stickiness left behind either.

My flaky skin was so much better after just one application, and after only using the hand cream 2 or 3 times my skin was back to normal, the little patches on my thumb and little finger needed a little more TLC but they were soon back to their usual soft self too, I honestly couldn't believe how fast my scaly, flaky, lizard like arm and hand were back to looking normal and without a flake or scale in sight! 

I am very impressed with the Nuxe hand cream, and would go as far as to say it is the best hand cream I have ever tried, I have tried many different hand creams over the years and especially since writing a beauty blog and having my You Tube Channel, I have been lucky enough to be gifted numerous hand creams but I have never ever written a blog post about one before which is testament to how good this product is. I would absolutely recommend this product to anyone and especially if you suffer with dry chapped hands, it really is a beautiful product, I never thought I would be writing a blog post and raving about a hand cream but I am and would definitely recommend you try it, you won't be disappointed. 

If you would like to try the Bio Beaute Nuxe Nutrition Hand Cream, it is available for £9.10 for 75ml on the Farmaline website. 

Thank you for reading, much love as always, 

Zoe x


*pr sample











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Tuesday 11 March 2014

Bargain Orly Polish


Hello Lovelies, 

This is my second post for today and one I wasn't planning on writing, that is until I saw something online that I thought you might be interested in, I was browsing one of my favourite beauty websites Beauty Expert, as you know I order a lot of my beauty products from Beauty Expert, and in every haul I upload to my You Tube Channel there is always something I have bought from their website. 

As I always do when I visit the Beauty Expert site, I headed straight over to their Orly product page to check out my favourite nail polish brand, I had been kindly given a 20% discount from Beauty Expert so was planning on getting some money off a polish or 2 but can you imagine my excitement when I noticed that almost 30 Orly polishes have been discounted by 50%!! Some polishes to £5.13 and some to £5.40 what a bargain. 

I had to tell you about it and especially because the Orly polish Miss Conduct that I recently blogged about here is also down to £5.13 including delivery. And if you buy any 2 polishes you also get some of the Orly Flash Dry Drops free. 

If you want to get some fantastic bargains you can find the discounted Orly polishes here. You do need to hurry scurry though as the offer is only available while stocks last. 

Orly is a fantastic brand, they are free from any nasties like DBP, Toluene and Formaldehyde so they are kinder to your nails and the come in a massive 18ml bottle. They have a rubberised cap which makes it easy to open and close the polish but also makes polishing your nails easier too. I always recommend Orly as a brand, I have been using their polishes and other nail products for over 5 years now and they have never let me down. 

50% off, free flash drops and free delivery, what's not to love? Let me know if you grab yourself a bargain. 

Thank you for reading, much love as always,

Zoe x







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MAC ~ All Fired Up



Hello Lovelies, 

Today I want to share with you a new lipstick I have in my collection, MAC's All Fired Up. All Fired Up is part of the Retro Matte collection launched in September 2013, there are 8 shades in the collection but the one that caught my eye was All Fired Up, it is described as a bright fuchsia matte and is only the second matte MAC lipstick I own. I am a very lucky girl because after I kept forgetting to order this, Cole picked it up for me as part of her back to MAC when she recently took in her empty packing. If you're not familiar with the back to MAC policy, basically you can exchange 6 empty MAC packages for example, six empty lipstick bullets and exchange it for a new lipstick, you don't get the box but that doesn't really matter to me. If you want to find out more about back to MAC, there is some information on the MAC website here.

My Thoughts ~

All fired up is described as a bright fuchsia matte, personally I find it more of a pinky/red shade and it definitely looks more red than pink on my lips, my lips do have a lot of blue in them so maybe that's why, I think it would look more fuchsia on a darker skin tone than mine.


As you can see from the photograph, it does look quite pink in the bullet. All fired up is only my second matte lipstick in my MAC lipstick collection, the other being Russian Red. 

I love the colour of this lipstick and am so pleased Cole picked it up for me, it is a beautiful colour and I have received so many compliments when I've worn it, whether it be from my friends and family at home or comments on one of my You Tube video's, and every time I've worn this lipstick for filming, I've been asked what it is. Like I said on me I think it definitely looks more red than pink, all be it a bright red and much more red than Russian Red if that makes sense, I find Russian Red to be a deeper darker red, this is definitely bright red but it does have a pink undertone to it. The colour is beautiful and since getting it, it has been my go to lipstick pretty much every time I've applied my make up. It looks great with all make up looks, I've worn it with a neutral daytime eye make up look and a darker more smoky eye look and it looked lovely with both. 

The only negative I could find with all fired up is that it is quite dry, obviously it's a matte finish they are always on the dry side but some more than others, if you've tried Russian Red and Ruby Woo you'll know what I mean, Ruby Woo is much more dry than Russian Red. I don't have a problem at all with Russian Red and don't find it dries my lips out, I am lucky though not to suffer from dry lips but I did find All Fired Up harder to apply and it feels dry on the lips when I'm wearing it. I wouldn't say I had to drag it to apply it but it is dry, and next time I wear it I am going to try a lip balm over or under it. I would imagine if you do suffer from dry and especially peeling lips this may be one to use a lip balm with. It isn't a problem to me but I'm not keen on the feel of the finish, it certainly doesn't put me off wearing it though. 

Having said that because this is a matte finish the longevity of the lipstick is phenomenal and lasts for hours without the need for touching up despite me eating and drinking. 

Overall I would definitely recommend All Fired Up, it is a beautiful colour that is long lasting and looks amazing with many different make up looks, and I would certainly re purchase it, its a definite 10 out of 10 for me. I love it and if like me you love red lips or a bold lip colour I would say you must check it out,  but if you do suffer from dry lips, I'd pick up a lip balm at the same time.

You can find All Fired UP here and here for £15.00. 

This photograph is a little dark but I am wearing All Fired up in this photograph and in this video.

Have you tried any of the Retro Matte collection? 

Thank you for reading, much love as always,

Zoe x
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Tuesday 4 March 2014

Vichy Idealia Dry Skin ~ A Review


Hello Lovelies, 

I'm sure you know by now, I am a massive skin care junkie, I love discovering new skin care products, so I was absolutely delighted when I was contacted by Farmaline asking me if I would like to choose a skin care product from their site to review. 

If you have been reading my blog or watching my You Tube video's for a while you will already know that I love the Farmaline website and I order my beloved La Roche Posay Serozinc from there, so I was really pleased when they contacted me. Farmaline are a great online pharmacy based in Belgium, they stock all the skin care goodies we can't get our hands on here in the UK and some we can, the delivery is super fast, at around only 48 hours, their customer service and service in general is excellent and I would highly recommend you check them out.

The lovely Phillipe emailed me and asked me about my skin type and then sent me various links to products all catered towards my skin which is dry/very dry and dehydrated and asked me to take a look at the products and choose something. I chose the Vichy Idealia* Dry Skin, I hadn't ever tried anything from the brand so I was looking forward to using it.

What Farmaline Say About The Product ~

Vichy Idealia Dry Skin
Enriched with Kombucha 3%, AHAs, Vitamins, Probiotics and Polyphenols. Skin feels more even, smoother, supple and refined. The complexion is more radiant and the skin is replumped with moisture. Skin looks more youthful, fresher and healthier. Tested under dermatological control.
  • Hypoallergenic
  • Noncomedogenic
  • Paraben free
  • Enriched with Vichy Thermal Spa Water.
The richness of a cream with the lightness of a gel, to give the skin immediate radiance. Both creamy and aerated, it melts on the skin and immediately skin feels smoother.

My Thoughts ~

I have been using the Vichy Idealia for a month now, twice a day, morning and night. It's not a heavy moisturising product, is really light in consistency and has a gel like feel to it. It applies well and sinks into my skin beautifully,  I really love how easily the moisturiser does sink into my skin, it isn't left feeling greasy and feels really soothing. 

When I first tried the product I was a little sceptical because of how light in texture and consistency the cream is, I felt it wouldn't be moisturising enough for my extremely dry skin, my skin has been so dry recently and was at it's worst when I first started to use the Vichy and I honestly didn't think it was going to be right for me but I was very wrong. 

The moisturiser applied beautifully, it has a slight rose scent to it but nothing over powering, I have a real issue with scented products, so much so I can't use some things but this is fine, it's a subtle scent that doesn't linger at all. The moisturiser feels very soothing on the skin and dries quite quickly without leaving a greasy feeling. 

I use the Idealia twice a day and my make up applies well after use, I haven't had any problems at all when applying my foundation after using this. 

Inside the pale pink box is a lovely pale pink ceramic pot containing the moisturiser, it looks lovely on my dresser which isn't massively important but it is nice to have nice things on show and this is no exception.




I have been using the Vichy Idealia for a month now twice a day and I love it, I have never used anything as light that is as effective before, my winter moisturiser of choice for a long time has been the Darphin Hydraskin Rich and I never thought I'd find anything I liked as much or more but I have now, I love the Idealia and would love to try some more products from Vichy, never before has such a light feeling moisturiser been able to keep my extremely dry skin under control and certainly never during the winter months. I have very sensitive and eczema prone skin and haven't had any problems at all with the Vichy. Another thing I love is that a little product goes a long way, so my pot of wonder should last me a while and will definitely get me through the winter months which I am over the moon about. 

I love that the product is paraben free and non comedogenic, things I do look for when researching skin care products, I would 100% agree with the description from Farmaline, my skin is left feeling smooth and supple and looks fresh.

I can't recommend the Idealia enough, and if like me you are suffering from dry or dehydrated skin, I would recommend you check this out, and if you have a different skin type there are plenty other products in the range so I'm sure you will find something you love. This is a definite 10 out of 10 product for me and I will definitely re purchase it. 

If you would like to try the Vichy Idealia you can find it on the Farmaline website for £19.39 for 50ml. 

I would definitely recommend you check out the Farmaline website they stock a huge variety of products, from animal care to baby products with skin care, nail care and lots more in between, I could spend hours browsing and already have a huge wish list.

Thank you for reading, much love as always, 

Zoe x


*pr sample 








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