Monday 30 March 2015

Primark Coiled Hair Ties



Hello Lovelies, 

Today I have a post about some hair ties from Primark, I saw these a few weeks ago and thought they looked interesting and also very similar to another product I'd recently heard a lot about, the Invisibobble. I'd read about the Invisibobble hair ties that claim to stop that annoying kink in your hair that having it in a pony tail leaves but they are £3.75 each, so when I saw the Primark ones for £1.50 for a pack of 5 I thought I'd give them a go. 



The hair ties are all really pretty colours and I'm one of those people who always has a hair tie around my wrist and these look better than my usual blonde coloured hair tie that can usually be found round my wrist so a bit of a bonus I suppose.

Although Primark haven't made any claims that these hair ties will not leave a kink in your hair when you've had it in a pony tail, like I said they do look very similar to the Invisibobbles which are available from Boots for £3.75 so I wondered if the Primark ones would stop the annoying kink as the Invisibobble claims to do. 

The answer is no they don't, I am still left with that really annoying kink that won't straighten out no matter what I do when I've had my hair in a pony tail using one of these hair ties. But they look quite pretty and make a nice alternative to my blonde hair ties that I usually wear, and as I said they look nicer round my wrist. I am going to buy an Invisibobble to try and see if they are worth all the "blogger hype" they've had because if they do do what the claim, I'll be a very happy bunny! 

But for now I'll keep using the Primark ones, they look different and remind me of an old style telephone cord, who remembers those? They don't do anything ground breaking but they're a little bit different and quirky and I paid £1.50 for them so I may as well use them, a couple of negatives are that they stretch over a few uses, obviously when I put my hair in a pony tail I wrap the hair tie round a few times to secure it and they have stretched and don't look quite so coiled anymore, so they're not something I'm going to be able to use for a long time and sometimes I find they pull my hair out when I am taking them out, so not the best but as I said I may as well use them. 

Would I buy them again? 

No, they're a little bit different and a little bit quirky and nice colours and they do the job but they do stretch out to a not so coiled plastic hair tie that I can't use anymore and they sometimes pull my hair out, so they're quite nice to try for something a little bit different but they're not something I'll be re purchasing. 

I'll report back when I've tried the Invisibobble, so watch this space!

Have you tried the Primark coiled hair ties or the Invisibobble? What did you think? Let me know in the comments. 

Thank you for reading, much love as always, 

Zoe x
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Thursday 26 March 2015

A Mascara To Rival The Benefit Roller Lash?

Hello Lovelies,

Unless you've been living under a rock for the last few weeks, I'm pretty sure you'll have heard of the new Benefit mascara, the Roller Lash mascara. I wrote a post about roller lash a couple of weeks ago  (read that post here) and gave my thoughts but since then I have discovered a new mascara from Maybelline, the Lash Sensational mascara.  I also wrote a review on that recently too (read the review here)

Both the mascaras claim to do very similar things and have a very similar wand so I thought I'd compare them for you because although they have quite a few similarities, one thing which is quite different is the price. The Benefit mascara sells for £19.50 and the Maybelline for £7.99 so as you can see, a noticeable difference, but is the Benefit worth £11.51 more than the Maybelline? Or will the lash sensational be a rival for the roller lash? Carry on reading to find out...

Both products L- Maybelline & R- Benefit

My Benefit mascara is a sample size product that came free with Elle magazine so it does look a little different from the full size product, but the packaging of both mascaras is still different so worth showing I thought. 

Now for the wands, the wands aren't exactly the same, but they are similar as you'll see in the photographs below. 

L - Maybelline & R - Benefit

Obviously because the Benefit is a sample size, the wand handle is much smaller in size than the Maybelline, but you can see the similarities of the wand although again there is a size difference in the handle.

Close up of the wands

In the close up photograph above you can see the wands are very similar with the only real difference being that the Maybelline wand is a little more chunky than the Benefit wand. 

Both mascaras claim to give fullness and length to the lashes and the Maybelline promises to define and fan the lashes where the Benefit promises to curl the lashes. 

My lashes without any mascara, aren't they pathetic?

I have really pathetic eye lashes I really do so any mascara that promises length and fullness and I'm sold, I'm not too bothered about a curl or my lashes looking fanned out but it's a bonus if it works I suppose. As a rule I can only really wear waterproof mascara, I have a real problem with smudging or blobbing as I call it, and mascara loves to smudge or blob onto my socket bone and leave unsightly black marks on my make up, this happens with most mascaras unless they are waterproof, the only non waterproof mascara I have tried that doesn't blob is the Smashbox full exposure mascara. But usually unless a mascara is waterproof it will blob.

My Thoughts

On first application I found both mascaras easy to use, both have a very wet formula but don't go all over the place when applying. I liked the wand on both products which is unusual for me because I don't usually like a plastic wand but I did like both wands. I noticed a massive difference when using both products for the first time, my lashes looked longer and fuller and with the Maybelline were nicely defined and fanned out but I didn't notice a curl with the Benefit. 

Wearing the Benefit mascara for the first time (2 coats)

Wearing the Maybelline mascara for the first time (2 coats)

As you can see from the photographs above, both mascaras do give me length and fullness but I don't think I have any sort of curl from the Benefit Rollerlash, I took another photograph and uploaded it to my Instagram account and asked which my followers thought was a high end mascara and which thought was high street. 


This is the photograph I uploaded to Instagram and people chose the right eye as you look at the photograph as the high end mascara and the left as the high street mascara, the photograph below shows the results.


The mascara my Instagram followers chose as the high end product was in actual fact the Maybelline Lash Sensational mascara and the left was the Benefit Roller Lash. I think you can tell from the photograph that my lashes look much more defined and fanned out with the Maybelline and less "clumpy" too. 

Overall thoughts

Overall I liked both mascaras but for the the stand out product was most definitely the Maybelline Lash Sensational, it did exactly what it said on the tin, it is far more affordable and the results were outstanding, don't get me wrong I did like the Roller Lash but it didn't blow me away and whilst it did give me length and fullness to my lashes, it didn't curl them and it just wasn't groundbreaking enough for me and I personally don't think it's worth the £19.50 price tag. Maybelline is the stand out winner here for me and is definitely a rival for the roller lash, the wands are similar the formula is similar and both promise similar things but for me the Maybelline stands out a mile and I would most definitely re purchase it. 

My only negative about both mascaras is that they both blobbed on me, this as I said isn't unusual and something I expected since neither mascara is waterproof, if Maybelline bring out a waterproof version of the lash sensational I'll be a very happy bunny but for now I have found a way to make it work, so keep an eye out for that post coming soon

I would highly recommend the lash sensational mascara, it does exactly what it says on the tin and is affordable, I haven't loved a mascara so much for a very long time.

It certainly does give the Roller lash a run for it's money! 

If you would like to try the Maybelline Lash Sensational, it is available to buy on line at Superdrug for £7.99, and the Benefit Roller Lash is available to buy on line at the Benefit websiteDebenhams and John Lewis for £19.50.

Have you tried the Maybelline lash sensational mascara or the Benefit roller lash? Which was your favourite? 

Thank you for reading, much love as always, 

Zoe x
















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Tuesday 24 March 2015

Barry M Speedy Nail Polishes


Hello Lovelies, 

One of my favourite beauty products is nail polish, obviously I love all beauty products but nail polish just seems to draw me in somehow and especially new releases of nail polishes, combine that with pretty pastel colours and I'm in love.

Recently theres been a lot of "blogger hype" surrounding a new release from Barry M, their Speedy Quick Dry polishes and they have been all over the blogosphere (did I really just use that word?) with rave reviews all over the place,  so when I was out shopping a few weeks ago I picked up my 2 favourite colours from the collection, Kiss Me Quick, a lovely pretty pastel pink and In a Heart Beat, a pastel coral colour, pink and coral are my favourite nail colours for the spring and summer so I was really excited to try them out, I even bought my mum the same 2 colours as part of her mothers day gift because I knew she'd love the colours and the reviews were fabulous. 

Kiss Me Quick

In A Heartbeat

My Thoughts

As I said I have read numerous blog posts on these polishes all claiming them to be fast drying as their name suggests and that they are opaque in just 2 coats and look great, all the usual blog post stuff really. I had a slightly different experience to be honest and as you know, that's one thing I always am 100% honest. 

The first thing I noticed was the brush, it's different from the usual Barry M Polish brush, it's wider and flat I like the wider flat brushes on a nail polish and find them easier to use so I was happy to see the brush.

The brush.

Unfortunately the only good thing I have to say about these nail polishes is that I liked the brush. The polishes are appalling, they are very thin and to be honest I think that is why they dry quickly because they are very thin in consistency. Their name is true they do dry quickly but I needed 5 coats of the pale pink colour and 4 coats of the coral. 



The above photographs show 1 coat of the polishes and this is a good coat too, I am always liberal when applying nail polish so for someone who is a little less so I would hate to see what they're left with! As I said I had to use 4 and 5 coats of the polishes and still to me they didn't look brilliant and they bubbled. 


4 coats of In a heart beat

5 coats of kiss me quick 

The above photographs speak for themselves, you can see the bubbling on both polishes and they are streaky too. The first time I tried the polishes (and in the photographs shown in this post) I didn't use my usual top coat because I wanted to see how the polishes looked and also how long they lasted without chipping. The pale pink one (kiss me quick) lasted less around an hour before it chipped and the only thing I did was film a whats in my bag video before the polish chipped, and the coral one (in a heart beat) lasted less than 12 hours before chipping, now considering I don't work and have a terminal illness and can't do much, I don't do much to chip nail polish so they should have lasted longer than they did in my opinion. 

After an hour the polish chipped on my thumb. 

Overall Thoughts & Would I Re Purchase

Overall I am extremely disappointed with the polishes but also disappointed with myself for yet again falling foul of "blogger hype" when will I learn? The thing that upsets me the most is that I bought my mum the same polishes as part of her mothers day gift, so I've bought my mum something rubbish as part of her mothers day gift, brilliant! 

The polishes looked slightly better when I used my favourite Orly glosser top coat but close up they still look awful, it is such a shame as the colours are lovely and I would have worn them so much over the spring and summer, but how can I wear them and have bubbly/streaky nails that chip fast? I did get a little longer wear time with the Orly glosser top coat too so maybe I can use them on my toes then nobody will be close enough to see any bubbles or streaks. 

I won't be re purchasing the speedy polishes, I had such high hopes for these polishes and am so disappointed in them. I can't speak for any of the other shades but the 2 I have are terrible and I am not risking wasting any more money on the other colours, I'd rather spend my money on a polish I know will look good, so for me these were a complete fail and I won't ever buy them again and don't recommend you do either. But if you do want to try them, you'll find them on line at Superdrug for £3.99 each. 

Thank you for reading, much love as always,

Zoe x











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Sunday 22 March 2015

NOTD - Nail Of The Day


Hello Lovelies, 

Today I have another NOTD post for you, today's NOTD is a lovely spring/summer colour and looks great as a pop of colour with a plain black or monochrome outfit or as an addition to any nice colourful outfit. 

The NOTD today is Barry M's Gelly Hi Shine in the shade Pink Punch, a lovely bright fuchsia pink colour, I love the colour range of Barry M nail polishes and the price is very affordable for such an amazing colour range, the gelly hi shine polishes are slightly more expensive than the original nail paints by Barry M (which are my favourite Barry M polishes) but they can often be found on offer on the high street.


I did as always use my favourite base coat the Orly bonder base coat, available here and then I used 3 coats of the pink punch allowing each coat to dry fully in-between. I finished off with my favourite top coat, the orly glosser top coat available here.

The polish looks lovely and glossy without the top coat but I find using the Orly top coat helps the polish to last longer on my nails, without it I only manage around 12 - 48 hours maximum out of a Barry M polish but with the top coat I get around 4 days from the polish so it is worth adding it for gloss and longevity. 

Pink Punch is a lovely shade and one that is perfect for the spring and summer months, like I said above it can be worn with many different outfit choices and looks amazing, I got a lot of compliments when I wore it. The polish is fairly easy to apply, the brush is quite thin but it applies well considering and drying time is average, I don't personally think the gelly hi shines look like a gel manicure, they do look more glossy with the Orly top coat but I don't find they look like gel, however the colour range is good and at only £3.99 you can afford to pick up more than one. I would say to give the Gelly Hi Shines a try if you've been wanting to but be aware that I always need 3 coats of the polish despite seeing claims on other blogs of them being a "1 coat" polish and they aren't very long lasting without a good top coat but for a night out or an occasion or if you change your nail polish regularly, they're reasonably priced and worth a try, I just don't find them to be worth the "blogger hype" they often get, but as I said worth a try as they're not terrible. I do have a review of 2 of the other shades in the range here if you'd like to read it. 

You can find the Barry M gelly hi shine polishes on line at Boots, Superdrug, Nailpolish.co.uk, Nail polish direct and The Barry M website. 

What's your favourite Barry M polish? Let me know in the comments.

Thank you for reading, much love as always, 

Zoe x


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Tuesday 17 March 2015

Maybelline Lash Sensational Mascara - A Review



Hello Lovelies,

Today's post is about a new mascara I recently tried, the Maybelline Lash Sensational mascara, the mascara was on offer in Boots for £5.99 instead of £7.99 when I went shopping a couple of months ago so I thought I'd give it a go and see what I thought of it.

What Maybelline Say About Lash Sensational


Our first Layer-Reveal brush with 6 lengths of bristles captures the tiniest lashes you didn't know you had, volumises & defines the look of longer lashes. Result: A Layered, Multiplied Effect. Create A Sensation! New Lash Sensational Mascara from Maybelline New York Reveal the Look of Layers &
Layers of Lashes for a Sensational, Multiplied Lash Look. Our first Layer-Reveal brush with 6 lengths of bristles captures the tiniest lashes you didn't know you had, volumises & defines the look of longer lashes.
Result: A Layered, Multiplied Effect. Low wax formula for intense blackness without sticking lashes together
Tested on real women*:
90% Reveals layers & layers of lashes
90% Gives a multiplied lash look
90% Volumises every layer of lashes
90% Layer-reveal brush captures even the tiniest of lashes

Maybelline Lash Sensational mascara


My Thoughts

My lashes are pathetic, and when I say pathetic I mean pathetic, they are short and stubby not to mention sparse, so anything that claims to make them look longer and fuller and I'm on it, so when I read that the lash sensational gave volume and defined the "tiniest of lashes" I was taken in, a mascara to make my lashes longer, fully and defined, yes please! 

My rather pathetic lashes

I don't usually go for a plastic wand on a mascara or a curved one or anything gimmicky, this wand is all of those things but I had high hopes for the product.



As you can see from the photographs above the wand is plastic and is curved, with tiny little bristles, not a wand I would normally go for but I thought hey ho if it's as good as it says it is do I really care what the wand looks like? 

I have a real problem with mascara and some of them tend to smudge or blob as I call it, along my socket bone where my lashes have rubbed, it drives me mad and I have bought so many mascaras in the hope they don't blob and then they do, I do usually look out for a waterproof mascara but I couldn't find a waterproof option in the lash sensational they were all the same and just labelled blackest black, which is obviously the shade. 

The first time I used the mascara I was blown away, it is fantastic and does exactly what it says on the tin, my lashes looked long and full and they were nicely fanned out too, I was amazed and so pleased with how my lashes looked.


The photograph above shows my lashes the first time I applied the mascara, I think you can see they look full and long and nicely fanned out. I had applied 2 coats in the photograph. 

The mascara was easy to apply, it is quite a wet formula but doesn't go all over the place or smudge onto your eye makeup, it is really easy to apply and I found my lower lashes easy to coat too despite the wand being quite chunky in the middle, I didn't have any problems at all with applying the mascara. I didn't experience any flaking at all throughout the day, but unfortunately the mascara did blob and I did end up with smudge marks. 

Overall thoughts and would I re purchase?

I was extremely impressed with the lash sensational mascara and it is the best mascara I have used in a very long time, I loved it, I thought it was so good I gave it to Cole my daughter, who is a professional make up artist and knows her stuff to see what she thought of it, and she was blown away too, she thought it was amazing, and said it was a fantastic product and she would be purchasing some for her kit. 

I loved that the mascara did exactly what it promised it would, so many times I'll read the packaging on a product and it promises the world only to badly disappoint but this product was amazing, my lashes looked fuller, thicker and really nicely fanned out, this is a fabulous product and one I would highly recommend, I was just really disappointed that it smudged on me but as I said that isn't unusual for a non waterproof mascara. 

Would I re purchase? If there was a waterproof version of this mascara released I'd be there in a heart beat, unfortunately for me at the moment there isn't but I have found a way of making the mascara work for me and I'll be letting you into that little secret very soon so keep an eye out. But yes I would re purchase the mascara, it is a fantastic product that does exactly what it says it will, it's easy to apply and looks amazing and it's only £7.99, to me it's a no brainer. 

I was so so impressed with this mascara I can't rave about it enough, if you haven't tried it yet I would recommend you do, especially if like me you have really short, stubby lashes, you'll notice the difference the first time you apply it. If you do suffer from blobbing or smudging though I would say it might not be for you, like I said this does blob on me but I have found a way to make it work so I can wear it, but if I hadn't I wouldn't be able to wear it. I would still give it 10 out of 10, I would just have to wait for a waterproof version to be released, but it is worth bearing in mind if you suffer with smudging from non waterproof mascaras. 

If you do want to try the Maybelline Lash Sensational mascara, you can find it on line at Boots and Superdrug for £7.99. At the time of writing this post Superdrug had a buy one get one half price offer on Maybelline products and Boots had a 3 for 2 offer on Maybelline products. 

Have you tried the lash sensational mascara? What's your favourite mascara? 

Thank you for reading, much love as always, 

Zoe x









3 SENSATIONAL SHADES

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Thursday 12 March 2015

Nars Pro Prime Smudgeproof Eye Shadow Base ~ A Review


 

Hello lovelies, 

If you are subscribed to or watch my You Tube videos you will have seen me mention this product a lot, but I have never written a post about it so I decided that it was about time I did. 

The Nars Pro Prime Smudgeproof Eyeshadow Base is an eyeshadow primer and one I have used for  many years,  it isn't a cheap product at £19.50 but it is fantastic and makes a huge difference to my make up, I have very oily eye lids and all eye shadows crease on me, it is the bane of my life, but using the primer makes such a difference and I don't suffer any creasing at all, and my eye makeup looks exactly the same when it comes to taking it off as it did when I applied it. 




The eye shadow base comes in a white tube with a black lid and has a doe foot applicator, there is 8g of product in the tube and it retails at around £19.50 although the price can vary in different department stores.

I apply the product by putting a small amount onto the back of my hand using the applicator and then rubbing the product into my lids using my ring finger to blend it out.  I would say a tube of this lasts me around 18 months so although it is an expensive product it does last a very long time, I don't use it every day but do use it around 3-4 times a week. I received a tip from one of my lovely subscribers who told me that there is a clear bung type thing where the lid screws on the tube and she said to remove the bung and I would get a lot more product out of the tube, she was right and after removing the bung type thing I got around another 6 months out of my tube, so if you use this or buy it and you think it's running out, take out the clear bung at the top and you'll be pleasantly surprised.

This really is an amazing product, my eyeshadows stay all day, and don't crease at all and if I use a coloured shadow it looks amazing and the colour really stands out so if you love coloured eye looks this will be perfect for you, even with a neutral eye look it's an amazing product and really makes a difference. I don't use this when using a cream eye shadow, I will have another post coming soon for you about the primer I love for cream shadows and my favourite budget eye shadow primer, so keep an eye out for those posts if you'll pardon the pun.

Nars smudge proof eye shadow base really is fantastic and if you haven't ever tried it, I urge you to either pick it up or ask at a Nars counter if the assistant can try it on you and apply a shadow over it, you will be very impressed.

There isn't much more to say about this product other than it is amazing! If you would like to try it, you can purchase it here for £19.50 inc free delivery, it is also available from Space.NKJohn Lewis and Selfridges for £19.50 (delivery charges apply).

Have you tried the smudge proof eye shadow base? What did you think? Let me know in the comments.

Thank you for reading, much love as always,

Zoe x
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Monday 9 March 2015

Benefit Roller Lash Mascara - Worth The Hype?


Hello Lovelies, 

Today's post is all about a mascara that I'm sure you'll have heard of, that is unless you've been on another planet recently, the Benefit Roller Lash mascara. 

I like many other people and a lot of bloggers included, picked up my roller lash mascara when it was featured as the freebie with the February edition of Elle magazine. I was asked by a lot of my you tube subscribers and blog readers if I would pick up the roller lash and try it out and review it, so I did do and I have been using it for around 3-4 weeks now.

The mascara

The mascara wand

My Thoughts

I thought the mascara applied well and didn't go everywhere despite it being quite a 'wet' formula if that makes any sense? Sometimes when a mascara is quite wet it can go all over the bridge of my nose and fingers when I apply it but this didn't and it applied well and I found it easy to apply. The brush is curved with little spikes on it, I found it easy to get into those small lashes in the corners too and it was easy to do my bottom lashes which I sometimes struggle with. I have extremely pathetic eye lashes as you can see from the photograph below, they are really short and sparse and not the best at all.

My bare lashes

The first time I wore the mascara I was going out on a shopping trip with my mum and Lissy, I always get really hot when I'm out because I am in a lot of pain so I thought it would be a good test to try the mascara out for the first time. I also struggle with mascaras because some of them rub or smudge or as I call it blob onto my socket bone and leave a black mark, it drives me mad, but I had high hopes for the roller lash as one of the claims from Benefit was no smudging as well as it being good for separating, lifting and curling. 

Me wearing the roller lash

A close up of the roller lash

In the photographs above I am wearing 2 coats of the roller lash mascara, I have since tried using it and applying more coats to try and achieve a fuller look to my lashes but I didn't like the look and my lashes looked really spidery and clumpy, so I wouldn't recommend using more than 1 or 2 coats of the mascara. The mascara lasted well throughout the day and I didn't experience any flaking at all, I found with the Benefit They're Real mascara that I had a lot of little bits of black under my lower lash line where the mascara flaked, that said I really don't like they're real at all, but that's a whole other blog post. Unfortunately though I did experience smudging/blobbing on my socket bone, this happens every time I wear the mascara, it isn't a lot but it still smudges or blobs and you can see it, if I wear dark make up it isn't as obvious but it is still there. 

Overall thoughts 

Overall I thought the roller lash was a good product it gave me length to my lashes and they were nicely separated, I was impressed that I didn't have any flaking but disappointed that I did experience smudging/blobbing, I do like the mascara and think my lashes look lovely and long when I wear it but I wouldn't pay £19.50 for it and even if it didn't smudge I wouldn't buy it I'm afraid, I think it's a good mascara and it does lengthen and lift my lashes and it separates them nicely too. Benefit claim the mascara lifts and separates and curls the lashes, I agree with the lifting and separating but not so much the curl, I didn't see much of a curl to my lashes but the mascara did lift and separate nicely. I also liked that it was easy to apply and wore well but I don't think it is worth the £19.50 price tag I'm afraid, I think you can get mascaras that are just as good or better for less money. 

I also bought Lissy an Elle magazine so she has her own roller lash and I asked her what she thought since she's been using it for around 2-3 weeks now and she said -

" It's good but a bit too 'wet' it feels like it doesn't dry and it can make your eye lashes look clumpy if you're not careful, it didn't really curl my lashes but it's a good mascara and I really like it but I don't think it's worth that much money and I wouldn't pay £19.50 for it" 

So Lissy agreed with me, she likes the product but doesn't think it's worth the price tag and like me she found it can look clumpy if you apply too many coats of it. Lissy didn't experience any smudging or flaking either, she doesn't usually find mascaras smudge/blob on her though but some do flake. 

Is it worth the hype?

I would agree it's a great mascara and it does do what it says on the tin so to speak, as I said I didn't see much of a curl but I do agree with people who say it's a good product because it is, I personally don't think it's groundbreaking but it is as good as people say it is so I would say in my opinion it's worth the hype, but not worth the £19.50 price tag. 

If you would like to try roller lash, you can buy it on line from BootsDebenhamsLook Fantastic and The Benefit website priced at £19.50. 

Have you tried roller lash? What did you think? Let me know in the comments. 

Thank you for reading, much love as always,

Zoe x









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Tuesday 3 March 2015

My Perfect Nude Lip

Hello Lovelies,

I struggle a little with nude lip colours, I have a blue tinge to my lips because some of the medication I take has an effect on my respiratory system, it leaves me with lovely blue nails and lips and is a real pain when it comes to buying lip (and nail) products.

Pink toned nude lip colours are the nudes that suit me the most and the nudes I like to wear and recently I've found 2 products I have in my collection from 2 separate brands that are a match made in heaven for my perfect nude lip.

The heavenly combination is that of the Charlotte Tilbury Lip Cheat lip liner in the shade Pillow Talk and MAC's lipstick in Brave, the lip liner and lipstick compliment each other perfectly and I couldn't have chosen a more perfect match. I didn't actually buy the items together, Nichole picked up the lipstick for me in January when she was in London and I bought the lip liner just after Christmas when Selfridges had a 10% off sale so it was a complete coincidence that these 2 products are so perfect.

I'd seen the lip liner when I'd been researching (read that lusting over) Charlotte Tilbury products as a gift idea for Nichole for Christmas, there seemed to be a lot of hype surrounding the lip liner and I was intrigued so went to try it when I was sales shopping in January and once I'd tried it I loved it. And I first saw MAC Brave lipstick around 12 months ago but never picked it up, Nichole knew it was on my wish list and kindly picked it up for me in London.

Charlotte Tilbury Lip Cheat Lip Liner In Pillow Talk

Mac Brave Lipstick

Swatches of the lip liner and lipstick

As you can see from the swatches in the above photograph, the 2 products really are a perfect match and although it was a complete coincidence I am so pleased to have both products, as I said I really struggle to find nudes that suit me and for that reason I rarely wear a nude lip but since having both these products I've worn them so much and had a lot of complements on my lip colour. I usually colour my lips in fully with the lip liner and then apply the lipstick over the top, or I line my lips with the liner and then fill in my lips, either way looks lovely. 

I've also worn both products separately too, the lip liner looks great worn all over the lip and isn't uncomfortable to wear at all, I thought with it being a lip liner it might be a little drying but it isn't at all and I could rub my lips together quite easily when wearing it all over my lips, it has an amazing staying power and really does last for a very long time, it is a waterproof formula and paraben free, and when I wear the liner on it's own I am often asked what lipstick I am wearing. The lip cheat pencil really is a lip cheat too, it is fantastic for making the lips look fuller, I don't over line my lips too much as I worry I'd look a little silly but I do use the pencil to make my lips look fuller and it does work, it really is a lovely product. I do however have one negative and that is that the pencil does wear down quite quickly, I have to sharpen it after every use meaning it isn't going to last me too long if I wear it all the time, if you aren't going to use the pencil too much it won't be a problem but if you're looking for something to wear daily, I'm afraid it might not last very long. 

Brave lipstick is a beautiful pink toned nude, I love the colour and wish I'd picked it up sooner, it's a satin finish lipstick which is one of my favourite MAC lipstick finishes to wear, it lasts for around 5 hours on the lips and doesn't bleed at all, it looks amazing both with and without the pillow talk liner and has been my go to lip colour for around the last 5-6 weeks, it's comfortable to wear, not drying at all and is the perfect nude lip colour for me.

Me wearing the pillow talk lip liner (all over the lip) and brave lipstick

I would recommend both lip products, they are both really lovely, worn separately or together they look lovely and I'm so happy to have both products in my collection. Both products have excellent wear time and worn together I get around 6 hours wear time without topping up, both products are very comfortable to wear and not drying at all, and for me they are my "perfect nude". 

If you would like to try both or either of the lip products you can find the pillow talk lip liner in stores at the Charlotte Tilbury counters or on line at the Charlotte Tilbury websiteNet-A-Porter or Selfridges for £16.00. And you can find Brave lipstick in stores at any MAC counter or stand alone store and online at the MAC website, unfortunately it was sold out on line at all other MAC retailers but other sites that usually sell it but were out of stock are SelfridgesJohn Lewis and Debenhams. The price of the lipstick is £15.50. 

There has been quite a lot of hype surrounding the brave lipstick since it was listed as one of the lip colours Kylie Jenner likes to wear and it does sell out very quickly but at the time of writing this post it was available to buy from the MAC website. If it is sold out I would suggest just keep checking back to all the retailers listed because it does come back in stock often.

Have you found your "perfect nude lip" and if so what is it? Have you tried Brave or Pillow Talk and what did you think? I'd love to hear in the comments. 

Thank you for reading, much love as always

Zoe x









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Monday 2 March 2015

Charlotte Tilbury Magic Cream - A Review


Hello Lovelies, 

Today I have a review of a product I am pretty sure you'll have heard of. Charlotte Tilbury's Magic Cream. So is it really worth both the hype and the price tag?

I have what I can only describe as the driest skin known to man, it is also very dehydrated and is the absolute bane of my life! I have struggled so much over the years and tried out so many skin care products it is unreal, I'd read a lot about the magic cream and decided I needed to give it a try. 

So around 6 weeks ago I asked at the Charlotte Tilbury counter in Selfridges in Manchester if I would be able to have a sample of the magic cream, the sales assistant said yes of course but they didn't have any pots to put me any in so she would have to look for a pot, a couple of minutes later she came back with a little pot from the MAC counter and filled it with the magic cream, she filled it right to the top too which I thought was nice of her, she wasn't stingy at all with the sample. 

Unfortunately because I had a sample I don't have any nice images of the cream itself to show you but I didn't think you'd mind too much. I do however have some photos of my little sample pot of the cream.

My sample of magic cream after using it for almost 2 weeks

The magic cream on my hand

Actual Magic Cream packaging  

What Charlotte Tilbury Says About Magic Cream

My secret’s out… Over the past 20 years I’ve been mixing my own age-defying skincare known in the industry as CHARLOTTE’S MAGIC CREAM. I’ve been testing it backstage for years and models and my regular clients are already hooked. It’s a secret mix of patented anti-age ingredients, a hyaluronic acid booster plus floral extracts that lift and transform tired skin in an instant! Think of a wilting flower that’s just been watered – skin is flooded with moisture for a glowing complexion in a flash, no matter how dehydrated or lacklustre your skin may look.
A break-through, multi-tasking ingredient, the BioNymph Peptide Complex, fights the ageing process on all fronts: it stimulates collagen production and cell energy and fights free radicals, to reduce the appearance of wrinkles and smooth the skin. A hyaluronic acid booster called Sodium Hyaluronate floods skin with moisture, re-plumping the skin. And an infusion of rose hip oil and vitamin E bring your complexion back to life. Whether you’re stressed at your desk, dehydrated after a long-haul flight or an all-night hedonist with hungover skin, cheat the appearance of 8 hours sleep with CHARLOTTE’S MAGIC CREAM, for a lasting dewy, plumped-up finish. It’s one of my seven wonders for your skin!

What's In It? (ingredients)
Taken from the CT website - Water (Aqua), Homosalate , Glyceryl Stearate SE, Ethylhexyl Salicylate, Butylene Glycol, Glycerin, Butyl Methoxydibenzoylmethane, Octocrylene, Cetyl Alcohol, C12-15 Alkyl Benzoate, Cyclopentasiloxane, Dimethicone, Phenoxyethanol, Butyrospermum Parkii (Shea) Butter, Steareth-21, Avena Sativa (Oat) Kernel Extract, Carbomer, Dimethiconol, Potassium Cetyl Phosphate, Chlorphenesin, Caprylyl Glycol, Xanthan Gum, Hydrolyzed Viola Tricolor Extract, Allantoin, Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Juice, Disodium Edta, Tocopheryl Acetate, Camellia Oleifera Seed Oil, Rosa Canina Fruit Oil, Rosa Damascena Flower Water, Sodium Hydroxide, Helianthus Annuus (Sunflower) Seed Oil, Michelia Alba Leaf Oil, Sodium Lactate, Coco-Glucoside, PEG-8, Ethylhexylglycerin, Sodium Hyaluronate, Tocopherol, Palmitoyl Oligopeptide, Palmitoyl Tetrapeptide-7, Ascorbyl Palmitate, Plumeria Rubra Flower Extract, Ascorbic Acid, Citric Acid, Nicotiana Sylvestris Leaf Cell Culture, Linalool, Citronellol, Geraniol, plus a little bit of top secret magic...

My experience of using the magic cream
I was really impressed with the ingredients in the magic cream as they all seemed to be suited to my horrifically dry and dehydrated skin and I'd read on the Charlotte Tilbury website about the ingredients and was impressed,  the hyaluronic acid to seal in moisture and wild pansy to renew the hyaluronic acid, the rose hip and camellia oil and vitamin e for hydration and nourishment to my skin, vitamin A for firmness and smoothing and vitamin C to promote collagen activity to help promote a more youthful skin and lets face it who doesn't want more youthful skin at my age? There's also organic aloe vera, damask rose water and extract of frangipani to help fight the signs of ageing, and it's paraben free and mineral oil free too and has an spf of 15, so all round lots of good stuff for my skin. 
The little sample pot I received lasted 2 weeks with me using the cream every evening and around 3-4 mornings a week, a little really does go a long way.
Magic cream is a very rich cream and has a lovely subtle scent to it, it smells slightly rose scented but if you hate rose scents don't let that put you off because I hate rose scents and this is lovely, it is a very subtle scent as I said and a lovely one at that.

My Thoughts
The cream applies beautifully and feels amazing and very luxurious, it is fabulous for dry and dehydrated skin and ageing skin, it made my skin look lovely instantly, I can see why this works backstage for models who may have been on long flights etc. My skin loved the magic cream, it smoothed my skin and left it glowing, the cream was amazing under foundation and my skin looked lovely and glowing on days when I wasn't wearing make up. It really is amazing for people with a dry skin and especially dehydrated skin and devitalised skin, it plumps up the skin and gives it a lovely glow, smoothing at the same time, I loved it and my skin looked and felt lovely when I'd used it. 
I wouldn't recommend the magic cream if you have oily or combination skin or if you suffer with acne as some of the ingredients could trigger acne including shea butter, the spf and essential oils, but for those of you with dry, dehydrated, devitalised and ageing skin it is a god send, it really is a lovely product and I loved it.
Would I Buy Magic Cream
I personally wouldn't buy the magic cream but for one reason and one reason only, the price. Magic cream is £70 and for me it is just way too expensive, I couldn't justify spending that amount of money on a moisturiser no matter how beautiful it is, now if money were no object or we were in a better place financially I would buy this in a heartbeat, it would also make a beautiful gift for someone who loves their skincare and has dry and dehydrated skin but it is just too much for me to spend unfortunately, but that is the one and only reason I wouldn't buy it, if it sold for £30-£40 I'd buy it in a flash.

Overall Round up
I think it's fair to say I love the magic cream, it was an amazing product and if like me you have dry and dehydrated skin I would highly recommend it, if you'd like to try it out like I did, go to a CT counter and ask for a sample, you won't regret it, however you may like me wish you had more money to spend on lovely items of skin care! I haven't tried a moisturiser ever before and thought "wow this is amazing" and I've tried a lot of moisturisers over the years and especially since blogging  but nothing has had an instant effect on my skin like the magic cream, it's beautiful and I would highly recommend it to those of you with dry, dehydrated skin, it really is a game changer, I just wish it were a cheaper game changer.

If you'd like to try the magic cream it is available at Charlotte Tilbury counters in store on on line at the Charlotte Tilbury websiteSelfridges and Net-A-Porter for £70.00.

Have you tried the magic cream? What did you think?

Thank you for reading, much love as always,
Zoe x








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