Barry M Matte Me Up Lip Crayon In Pack A Punch

Hello Lovelies, 

On a recent shopping trip to our local retail park I noticed there was a Boots and of course it would have been rude not to go in, whilst shopping for some essentials for our holidays I naturally found myself over at the make up department and noticed that Barry M had a half price offer on some of their items. 

I saw the Matte Me Up Lip Crayon in pack a punch (02) a gorgeous bright coral/peach shade and one perfect for the summer, I love coral lip shades for the summer and thought pack a punch would be especially nice to wear on my holidays.

As I said Barry M had a half price offer on certain make up items and the lip crayons were part of that offer meaning they were £2.49 instead of £4.99 and after swatching it and loving the colour I couldn't leave it there for half the price. 

What Barry M Says About The Matte Me Up Lip Crayon

Matte Me Up Lip Crayons are a handbag essential for every fashionista.  In 5 catwalk-inspired shades, their creamy, velvet-matte texture glides on smoothly to provide a colour-packed finish.

My Thoughts

I was super excited to try the lip crayon and after swatching it in store it looked like it would be the perfect shade for me, I love matte lip products and love corals and bright colours and all for £2.49 I was so happy and couldn't wait to try it. As soon as I began to apply the lip crayon I knew I was going to be disappointed with it, the colour payoff was appalling and the lip crayon was nothing like I imagined it would be from swatching it, to be fair it didn't drag at all or feel too dry on my lips and for a matte product it did feel moisturising, but that is the only thing I can agree with from the description Barry M gives the lip crayon is not "colour packed" at all I could hardly see the colour and had to apply 4 layers of the crayon for the colour to show at all and what I was left with was a mediocre peach at best and certainly not a "pack a punch" bright coral/peach as the swatch and name suggests. 

Me wearing Pack A Punch

Overall Thoughts & Would I Re Purchase?

I was so disappointed with the lip crayon, as you can see in the above photograph (which was taken for a thumbnail for one of my video's) I do not look as if I'm wearing a bright coral/peach lip colour, it is more of a pale pink/peach, I had only just applied the lip crayon in this photograph. 

The lip crayon clings to any patches of dryness on the lips and considering I don't suffer from dry lips it still found patches of my lips to cling to, it wore away awfully leaving a ring of peach colour around my lips and the wear time was horrendous, at best I got 30 minutes of colour and after 1 hour all you could see was the unsightly peach line around my lips. 

The only redeeming feature is that the lip crayon didn't feel drying although it looked it and it didn't drag when I applied it but apart from that I cannot think of anything good to say about it. I'm just glad I didn't pay £4.99 for it or I would have felt even more disappointed. 

If you would like to try any of the Barry M Matte Me Up Lip Crayons, they are available in 5 shades and you can buy them at Boots and Superdrug for £4.99. 

Have you ever swatched something and thought it would be amazing only to find it was awful?

Thank you for reading, much love as always, 

Zoe x

Summer Coulis Bouquet Appleyard London

Hello Lovelies,

I adore fresh flowers and love to have them in my home, there's something about having a bouquet of fresh flowers around that makes me feel happy. Appleyard London are a luxury florist who were born out of a passion for boutique floral design, they are a team of experienced creative florists and dedicated customer care professionals ensuring your shopping experience is nothing short of perfect, all the bouquets are hand tied and where possible flowers are sourced from British growers and the packaging is designed to produce as little waste as possible. Appleyard kindly gifted me the Summer Coulis Bouquet* £34.99 a beautiful bright and summery bouquet and I couldn't wait to share it with you, I also have an amazing discount code to share with you but more on that later, first I want to share my beautiful flowers with you.

When I had my flowers delivered they arrived in a box which was easy to open, then inside the box the flowers were carefully wrapped in cellophane they were hand tied and stored in a hydration box, the flowers were wrapped carefully and well, they were secure and were not damaged at all, I was really impressed with how well packaged the flowers were and liked that they were stored in the hydration box. The flowers were easy to remove from the packaging and I loved that they were hand tied because I'm not the worlds greatest flower arranger but it was so easy to pop them into my vase and they looked amazing because they'd been arranged and hand tied so beautifully. 

The Summer Coulis bouquet is part of the summer range from Appleyard and as you can see it is stunning, it contains cerise germini, vibrant wow and tara roses, blue agapanthus and summer foliage,  I loved all the bright summery colours of the flowers and the mix of different flowers complimented each other really beautifully, the flowers smelled amazing too. The flowers were placed on the windowsill next to where I sit so I could see them all the time and they brought some much needed summer sun and brightness into my home, we've had an appalling summer but the flowers really brought summer into my lounge and everyone who visited me commented on how beautiful they were. My bouquet lasted for over 10 days which I thought was amazing I have never had a bouquet delivered that's lasted as long before, I was extremely impressed with how well they lasted. 

As I said I have an amazing and very generous discount code for you which will enable you to receive a 33% discount off any flowers (apart from the flowers by post range) on the Appleyard website it's an amazing offer and there is no expiry date so you can send flowers to a friend or loved one or even treat yourself there are a few different delivery options including next day flower delivery and the site is easy to use, the hardest part is choosing from so many stunning bouquets.

There are so many beautiful bouquets to choose from, the discount code is BLOG33 and as I said this will give you a generous discount of 33% which I think is amazing, please let me know if you do order some flowers which ones you choose, they are all stunning so I think you may well be spoilt for choice but I'd love to know which ones you chose if you do use the code. 

Do you like fresh flowers? What are your favourites? 

Thank you for reading, much love as always,

Zoe x

Jewel Candle Bath Bomb Cupcake And Soap Review

Hello Lovelies,

I've featured Jewel Candle both on my blog (here) and my you tube channel ( here & here) before, Jewel Candle sell candles that contain a hidden piece of 925 silver jewellery up to the value of £250 and dependant on which candle you choose you will find either a ring, a pendant or a pair of earrings wrapped securely and hidden within the candle which you can remove as the candle burns down. Jewel Candle have recently added some new products to their range and now sell Jewel Bath bath products, all the bath products contain a piece of jewellery and just like the candles you can choose from a ring, a pendant or a pair of earrings. There are various different bath products to choose from including Bath Salts, Bath Bombs, Cupcake Bath Bombs and Soaps each product comes in a different scent and for each scent you can choose either a ring, a pendant or a pair of earrings.

I was kindly asked to choose 2 items from the Cupcake Bath Bomb and Soap ranges and I chose the I Love You Cupcake Bath Bomb* with the earring option £19.95 (was £24.95) and I chose the Honey & Milk Soap* with the ring option £19.95 (was £24.95) it wasn't hard for me to choose the bath bomb and if you've been reading my blog or watching my channel for a while you'll know why, I love anything with love hearts on so I was instantly drawn to the I Love You cupcake bath bomb and I love the scent of honey and milk so that was an easy choice too but there are some gorgeous cupcake bath bombs to choose from and the soaps all sound lovely.

The soaps are a good size and wrapped nicely they were easy to open and the jewellery was housed in the side of one of the soaps which I saw as soon as I opened it, it was easy to remove and open and because of the way the jewellery is hidden in the soap you don't have to use the soap to find out whats inside so if like me you're inpatient it's brilliant, I couldn't wait to find out what the ring was like and when I saw it I was super happy. 

It's a gorgeous heart ring with diamante detailing at the sides of the heart as I said I love anything heart shaped and I love sparkly things too so the ring is perfect for me it really is beautiful, it looks so pretty on.

The soap smells lovely and is neither over powering nor subtle it's just a nice scent of honey and milk and smelled exactly as I'd hoped it would, it felt lovely on my dry skin and has lasted really well, in fact I still have some left and have been using it for the last few weeks now, in all honesty I'm not a soap person and use liquid soap at the sink and shower gel in the shower and haven't used a bar of soap for a long time so I was unsure I'd like the soap but I was surprised to find I have really enjoyed using it, the ingredients are perfect for my dry skin, it contains Coconut Oil, Canola Oil, Olive Oil, Mango Butter, Organic Milk, Peach Kernel Oil, Apricot Kernel Oil, Calendula Oil, Palmarosa Essential Oil, Geranium Essential Oil , Grapefruit Essential Oil, Calendula Petals, Organic Honey, all lovely ingredients that are brilliant for dry skin, I also have sensitive skin and didn't have any problems at all using the soap. 

The cupcake bath bomb is divided into two parts, the base where the jewellery is hidden is the bath bomb and the top which is an exfoliating body scrub, you can pull the cupcake apart or you can pop it into the bath and once it starts to fizz take it out and remove the top part (the scrub) leave the bath bomb to dissolve and then find your jewellery. The box the cupcake bath bomb comes in has easy to follow instructions on the back and there was also an instruction card attached to the packaging of the cupcake. 

The I Love You cupcake bath bomb is so pretty I loved the love heart on the top and the heart decoration on the cupcake case too and on the one hand it looked too lovely to use but then I couldn't wait to see what the earrings inside were like, it looks just like a cupcake and when I showed it to my friends and family they were surprised to find it was a bath bomb it looked so realistic, the bath bomb has a strawberry scent and contains dried strawberries, and the body scrub contains essential oils to help smooth and nourish the skin. 

We don't have a bath at home we have a double walk in shower so I went to my mums to use my bath bomb and she was extremely jealous when she saw it and asked if she could use it instead, I decided I would pop the whole cupcake into the water and remove the body scrub section once it had started to fizz. 

I removed the body scrub and left the bath bomb to dissolve which took around 10 minutes, once it had dissolved and stopped fizzing my mum found the little parcel with the earrings inside. The bath bomb left my skin feeling lovely and soft and smelled beautiful it is a nice soft strawberry scent that isn't over powering at all, I found the body scrub really nice to use and it left my skin feeling lovely and soft and smooth the scrub wasn't too harsh for me as I use body scrubs all the time but if you don't or you have very sensitive skin I would go gently with it, I used the body scrub twice but probably could have gotten three or four uses out of it, I like to use a lot of product but I could have gotten another couple of uses from it had I used less. 

The earrings that were inside my bath bomb are a beautiful what I would call "sun shaped" silver earring with a gorgeous pale blue stone in the centre of the earring, they are so pretty and look lovely, I have issues when wearing earrings and my ears become sore when I wear costume jewellery but because these are silver I can wear them for as long as I like and they don't hurt at all. 

I was so impressed with both the soap and the cupcake bath bomb the soap has lasted so well and and the cupcake bath bomb and scrub left my skin feeling amazing and to have such lovely products and a beautiful ring and a pair of earrings up to the value of £250 is for £19.95 each is pretty amazing, the bath products from Jewel Candle would make ideal gifts they are lovely items and whoever receives the gift is getting two gifts because they have their bath product and their jewellery or you could treat yourself and have a pamper night it really is extremely exciting waiting for the bath bomb to dissolve so you can discover the hidden jewellery inside. 

If you would like to find out more about Jewel Candle or see what products they have on offer you can visit their website here. 

What would you choose from Jewel Candle?

Thank you for reading, much love as always, 

Zoe x

Look Fantastic Beauty Box - August

Hello Lovelies,

I recently received the August Look Fantastic Beauty Box and today I'm sharing my thoughts on the box with you, I love Look Fantastic and have used their site for many years to buy my beauty products so I had high hopes for their beauty box and couldn't wait to find out what was inside the August box and I have to say I'm not disappointed.

The Look Fantastic Beauty Box* have a new box each month but unlike some other beauty boxes you don't have to choose a monthly subscription and can purchase your box on a monthly basis if you prefer but if subscriptions are your thing you can also order a monthly subscription of 3, 6 or 12 months, without a subscription the box the cost of the box is £15 and with a monthly subscription the cost of the box varies and are as follows

3 Month Plan - £13.33 per box saving you £5

6 Month Plan - £12.50 per box saving you £15

12 Month Plan - £11.25 per box saving you £45

The Products

The first item in the box is the Omorovicza Queen Of Hungary Mist ( 1.8ml worth 45p) I have never tried the brand Omorovicza before but I have heard a lot of good things about them, the mist is described as a purifying and hydrating toner perfect for a post cleanse toner or a mid day pick me up. I like to use a hydrating toner which I spritz onto my face after using an acid tone and although this is a sample size I am looking forward to trying it and should be able to use it a few times. 

The next product in the box is the Beauty Works 10 in 1 Miracle Spray (25ml worth £2.39) This is the first of 2 hair products in the box and it claims to be a 10 in 1 spray which eliminates frizz, restores shine, nourishes, replenishes oil, protects from heat, detangles, conditions, prevents split ends, enhances natural body and repairs dry/damaged hair. I like trying out hair products, I suffer from oily hair and often shy away from trying out products as they can be expensive only for me to find they make my hair even more oily so for me to be able to try out 2 new hair products is brilliant and I'm really looking forward to trying them both out.

Next is the other hair product in the box the Caviar CC 10 in 1 Cream (25ml worth £8.42) One of my favourite hair products is a cream product which also has a variety of different benefits so I am looking forward to finding out if this is a contender to replace it, the CC cream is paraben and sulphate free which are both things I look for when choosing hair products, I am really looking forward to trying this out. 

Next up is the Bella Pierre Cosmetics Shimmer Powder (full size product worth £12.99) this is one of 2 make up products in the box and is a lovely shimmery powder as the name suggests and is in the shade Snowflake which is a nice wearable shade that I'm sure will suit most skin tones. I will use this as a highlight for my cheekbones and brow bone and am going to try it on my eyes too, I think it could look nice as an inner corner highlight. 

Staying with make up next up is the Rimmel Wake Me Up Wonder'full Mascara (full size worth £7.99) The August boxes all contain a full size Rimmel product and theres 4 different products varying from box to box so you could also get the Scandaleyes XX-Treme Volume & Length Mascara, the Provocalips 16 hour lip colour or the Wake Me Up Wonder'full mascara with Argan oil so it's a complete surprise which Rimmel product you will get. The wand on this mascara is hourglass shaped which seems to be a popular shaped wand at the moment across brands. I'm really looking forward to trying this mascara and if it's as good as the wake me up foundation I'll be happy. 

Last but by no means least is the Eve Lom Cleanser plus a muslin cloth (30ml size worth £16.50) I have tried this cleanser before and it is lovely, it's a couple of years ago now since I tried but I did really like it so I am looking forward to using it again, I'm a real skin care geek as I'm sure you'll know so this product excites me greatly and with the sample being £16 it pays for the price of this months box which is fantastic.

I am extremely impressed with the contents of the August box, there isn't a product I am disappointed with and wouldn't use, I am going to be taking some of the products on my up coming summer holiday as they are brilliant sizes for travel, overall I am super impressed with the box and can't wait to use everything in it. The box is worth £48.74 and costs £15 which is brilliant and it's a great way of trying out products you might not have tried before, there's make up, hair care and skin care too so a good mix of products, overall I think it's a great box and I'm super impressed. Next months box is a special edition first birthday box so I am super excited to see what's in that box and if it's as good as this one it'll be fabulous. 

If you would like to order the August box or sign up for a subscription service, you can do so by visiting the Look Fantastic website. 

Thank you for reading, much love as always, 

Zoe x