Satsumo Santa.

Another bath lovely? I am treating you this week and may be my self a little bit too ;0)

So here is another instalment from the Christmas goody box and it comes in the form of a rather rotund, jolly Santa. 

 

I have to admit and I really don't want to, but I am more than a little disappointed with this bath bomb. Lush is like my Mecca and when I go in there it makes me feel serene and excited all at the same time, and I know that my purchases will always be good. However unfortunately in my eyes this bomb was far from good. 

 

It started off with the fizz. This bomb was bursting was fizz action but unfortunately that was short lived because it lasted about 2mins maximum. This then left my bath an amazing pinky/red colour but try as I may I couldn't locate the scent. I had my nose to the water, nothing. I thought I could small something, but it was my soap on the side of the bath so I moved it. I lifted my arm out of the water to smell my skin, looking back this could have looked like I was smelling my arm pit to an outsider, luckily my blinds were closed. But how ever hard I tried I could not smell this bomb at all. 

 

Now scent is generally the most important thing that I look for when choosing products for the bath, closely followed by what effect it has on the skin. Unfortunately again I didn't notice this bomb to have any effect on my skin. There was no oily goodness nor creamy loveliness. My skin didn't feel deep cleansed or muscle relaxed. I don't feel that I gained anything from this bomb other than pink water, which is lovely to look at but not something I would pay for.

Oh well you win some, you loose some and I have got plenty more to try yet.

Stacey x x

You’ve Been Mangoed.

HI guys, so Sunday was yet another bath bomb day and boy did I need it. I woke up in the morning with a splitting headache and the worst back ache ever! It actually felt like my first full day at work as a Beauty Therapist. On that day I did 7 full body massages all on muscley men. Sounds like a dream? It really wasn’t. My poor body wasn’t used to such strenuous activity (we are still talking about massage here, don’t be getting any ideas). By the end of that day, surprisingly I was feeling pretty good, my muscles had been worked and I felt like 7 full body massages on my first day was quite an achievement. However the next day I could not move my arms from by my sides, even holding a glass to my mouth was horrendous. Lucky I was off for a few days so I had time to recover from my ordeal. Now yesterday wasn’t quite as bad as that but I hadn’t even been doing any type of strenuous activity to warrant such pain. So after scouring the house for pain killers and only finding throat lozenges I decided the only thing that would help me would be a long soak in the bath.

Before I could do this I also did my blogging duty and took some pictures of the bomb that I used, see even consumed by pain I am always thinking about you guys ;0)

As you can see I decided to use another little something from the Christmas goody box and I went with You’ve Been Mangoed. You maybe able to tell by the catchy name that this is a Lush product so what do Lush say?

“Lemongrass, lime and lemon essential oils give you a zest and help lift your mind out of the blues and into an orange glow of cheeriness.
A tiny bar of powerful skin-softening butters makes this great for dry skins.

How to use

Watch it slowly melt away to leave you surrounded in a silky smooth bath of exquisite oils and fragrances”.


And what do I say? Well I say that I am a pretty happy girl. The scent was lovely. It was natural and quite subtle compared with the Pearls a Zinger Bath Tulip. This is not necessarily a bad thing as I could still smell this even in the bedroom but it wasn’t over powering. It was a fruity, creamy smell which I really liked and it left my skin a little moisturised. In my bath it didn’t leave a colour and it dissolved in about 10mins without any fizz.  

Overall at £2.95 I think this bomb (that I should really call a melt) was really nice. It would be something that I would repurchase in the future for a little treat, and if you like fruity scents and a little moisturising then this could be the bath melt for you.

Stacey x x

New Face Paint Faces.

Hay guys I have a little project that I am working on at the moment that I wanted to share with you. For those of you that don’t know, I am a face painter in my spare time and although I have some basic faces down I wanted to add a few more to my arsenal. Now to make sure this gets done I need to be organised and motivated so I have set my self a challenge. I have decided that I am going to learn a new face every week for the next 8 weeks. There are some criteria for these faces; they have to take under 5mins to paint and they have to be part faces ie not painting round the mouth. This is primarily because I have noticed that children have to eat and drink and when they do said things they tend to wipe their mouths with the back of their hands, and then …………..well you can guess what is left of a lovely (water based) face. I find that faces that are concentrated anywhere except the mouth last longer throughout the day thus are more value for money. I also much prefer the over all look of a part face. I think the effect of the paint and seeing some skin is much more visually appealing, but that is of course just my opinion. 

 (I must apologise for the gormless expression and the fact that I am in my PJ's)

So here it is, my first NEW face and I have to say I love it! It appeals to every part of my girly nature. It has an abundance of colour and rainbows and stars are my ultimate childhood fantasy reminding me of Care Bares, Rainbow Bright and My Little Pony. This mixed with glitter (not on the picture) is definitely a face I would have wanted as a child, I can’t kid you, it’s a face I want now! 

This picture was my second attempt at this face and it’s not quite down in 5mins yet but this is what I will be practicing all week until I’m seeing it in my sleep. 

 

I hope you all like this and if anyone has any suggestions for some part faces let me know. 

Stacey x x

OPI TopCoat, Colour and Birthday Cakes.

Well good evening ladies and gentlemen, tonight you are in for a real treat for I have in store for you, not one, not two, but three exquisite delicacy's to feast your eyes upon!!

The first is my gorgeous birthday present from my equally gorgeous friend Sarah of Cakes by Sarah-Jane. As you can see I am actually lucky enough to have a best friend who is a cake maker/baker and she came round to my house today to drop off the most amazingly beautiful cupcakes, one of which I am eating right now

.

Now there is a reason that I have received these specific cupcakes for my birthday, not just because I LOVE cake, although that is reason enough in my book! My friend first made these specific cupcakes for a christening that I was lucky enough to attend, and at this christening me and my other close friend discovered that once you bite in to these little beauties it is like your life is filled with joy. They are the most amazing cakes I have ever tasted in my life and ever since that day me and my other friend have taken every opportunity to bring these cakes up in conversation to try and get said cakes made for us, and we were even thinking about crashing parties where these cakes might be located. Phew... it was touch and go for a minuet there!

But there was no need for that because for both out birthdays, respectively, we received a little box of goodness and our lives were thus complete......until they have been scoffed! And trust me these will not be around for long.

So from one lot of goodies to another and today I wanted to show you my new Topcoat by OPI and a coloured nail polish that came with it. 

 

For a while now I have been scraping the dregs at the bottom of my current topcoat trying to drag out the inevitable task of purchasing a new one. This was because generally I don't enjoy buying things that I have to buy and mainly because I had been using China Glaze Topcoat and I have kind of had a falling out with Sally's and am in the throes of boycotting them at the moment. So with my go to Topcoat currently off the market I was a bit at a loss at which to try next. Eventually after much scrutiny and internet research I plumped for OPI RapidDry TopCoat and I am very impressed. I found it to have a really nice consistency, not too watery or too thick. It gave an amazing gloss to the nails, it lasted quite a while without chipping and it dried really quick. It ticked all my criteria for what I look for in a Topcoat and I would definitely buy this again. And as well as all this, it also came with a little gift. 

 

I am, like most, the kind of girl who loves a little something for free and this little something was an absolute treat. I received with my Topcoat OPI's “Red my fortune cookie” which is one of their red nail colours. First off I love the name, its not just “Red” or “Fiery Red” or another word that is synonymous with Red, there has been some real thought that has gone in to this name. Also im never really happy when I receive a red polish as a freebie because I feel that in a lot of sets they just put a red in to flesh it out. Like you have had too many nice colours in this set so you can have a red in it too. Hmmm maybe that's my cynical side coming out?! But I was proved wrong with this freebie red because it actually blew me away. It is by far the nicest red I own and it applied like a dream. No streaks, no bumps, it was completely flawless and it had great staying power. 

 

This is the first time I have ever really looked in to OPI, I think I have kind of misjudged it as being over rated and a little expensive but after this experience I will definitely be getting some more, I already have my eye on same Nicki Minaj polishes for OPI. shhh......don't tell anyone.

See you all soon.

Stacey x x

Bomb Cosmetics - Pearls a Zinger Bath Tulip.

Hi guys so yesterday after scrubbing my kitchen, tidying my living room, losing my phone for 2 hours and then finding it in the bin, I thought it was time for a bath bomb. Actually I NEEDED a bath bomb! And luckily for me Santa had brought me a stash of them for Christmas. This particular bath bomb came from a cosmetics goody box which my mum had made for me.

 

It has lots of wonderful things in it and I thought that I would review them one by one for you. This is one of my most favourite presents which I received for Christmas. The box is amazing, I will definitely be using this to house my jewellery collection in the near future. I also love that that bottom was filled with crepe paper and little Christmas tree confetti. This box means the world to me because so much thought has gone in to it, it is filled with time, attention and love. 

 

My mum is an avid reader of my blog which makes me really happy, and she has been waiting for this review to come out since New Years day. She explained to me that she bought this specific bomb because of my Body Shop shower gels post in which I professed to being “a self confessed guru of orange smells” and she wanted to find out how this performed. So what can I tell you and her? 

 

Well this bomb was definitely Orange. The smell was strong and sweet, if not a little man made, and dare I say, a tiny bit soapy, but I'm sure I can over look that as the scent lasted all day, actually I can still smell it when I go in to my bathroom now. That may be due to that fact that on the website it states “Remember to only allow a portion of your Tulip to dissolve and remove it from the bath to save the rest for later”. I unfortunately read this a little too late and I used the whole thing in one go, but let me tell you I would do the same again because it was a pretty nice bath! 

 

As you can see from the picture my bomb is shaped like a cup cake which makes me happier than you can imagine. I like to think that the red dots on it are jelly beans and the caramel coloured flakes are fudge. Even unwrapping this bomb felt amazing, I love that fact that it looks good enough to eat.

 

Once I put the bomb in the bath it took age to dissolve (I now know why), it easily took 20 mins, I had time to take pictures of it, put a face mask on, write some of my review and then read for about 10mins. During this time the bomb merrily bobbed around my bath water leaving a milky/oil residue in it's wake, which left my skin feeling super silky and hydrated and appeals to my lazier side as I didn't have to moisturise after. 

 

This bomb was £2.99 and I have to tell you I think it was definitely worth the money! I will be checking out some more of the products the Bomb Cosmetics has to offer in the future but will this company be taking over my love of Lush? Well!? Maybe I can have it as well as. 

Stacey x x 

Illamasqua Nail Polish – Elope.

Hay guys today I wanted to show you my first Illamasqua nail polish which is very special because not only was it a Christmas present, but it was also picked by hubby him self with no outside influences for help. Now this sounds like it is out of the ordinary and a big feat for the hubster but actually its not, he is very good at presents and has no qualms about going to a beauty counter and having a look round. So when I asked for his thoughts behind this nail polish his answer was that green suits me. Well you cant say fairer than that and once I popped this polish on I have to say the boy's not wrong.

I really, really like this polish. It went on smooth, it lasted ages without chipping, it wasn't too thick or thin and the colour was ace! I will defiantly be trying more of these polishes and maybe a few other brands as well in the future, maybe the boy has successfully broken the Nails Inc obsession, watch this space to find out. 

 

See you soon.

Stacey x x

Urban Decay 24/7 Eyeliner Pencils and Amsterdam

Hay guys first of all Happy Snow Day!!! It has in fact snowed in certain areas of the UK today and as I am writing this I am travelling down a white M62 on my way home from Amsterdam. Me, hubby and the rents have enjoyed a mini cruise to the city if sin for the weekend and surprisingly enough it had snowed there as well. I don’t know what it is about the UK but when we have a little flurry of the white stuff everything comes to a standstill, unlike our Dutch cousins who were still riding around on their peddle bikes and being generally lovely people.  

Now just for the record, while in Amsterdam I did not partake in any Space: cakes, cookies, brownies, porridge, burger, or any other delicacy involving any contraband substances. However I may have taken a peek in a few lady windows................................ well you have to do some touristy things ;0)

And even with all the eye popping distractions that Amsterdam has to offer I still managed a make up look and a new product review for you guys, I know, ever the professional! So for this look I wanted something quite natural as it was day time. I also wanted something that would last all day with minimal touch ups and something with SPF in it, as although it was -5 the sun was out in force.

And here it is.

Products.

Base: Bare Minerals Foundation in Fair, Mineral Veil

Cheeks: MAC Phloof (highlight), Bare Minerals Warmth (contour), MAC Style (blusher)

Eyes: MAC Phloof (brow highlight), Urban Decay 24/7 Radium (eye liner), MAC spiked (brow colour), Collection 2000 Colour Lash Clear (brow set), MAC Prep and prime (lash primer), Max Factor False Lash Effect Black/Brown (mascara)

Lips: Avon Lip Plump (balm), Sleek Pout Polish Electro Peach (colour)

Nails: Nails Inc Baker Street

Brushes: MAC 224, Bare Mineral Kabuki and Flawless Face brush, and the blusher brush looks like an old Avon one but who knows. 

 

As you can see from the picture my hair is now a pinky/purple colour. I do like to change things up a little from time to time. 

Now to the review and we have the wonderful M-I-L to thank for this one as she kindly bought these for my birthday. So for those of you that don't know, on ship they usually have a duty free shop selling the usual, perfumes, cosmetics, alcohol ect and this where my Urban Decay eye liners came from. I was quite surprised to see Urban Decay in duty free as I have have never seen it in any others before, but there it was. There was only a small selection and I am not even sure that they were any cheaper than on the hight street (these were £17.50), but what I did notice was that they stocked a few products that I haven't seen before, these being one of them.

Urban Decay 24/7 travel size Electric eye liner includes 5 different colours:

Perversion - Black

Ransom - Purple

Woodstock - Pink

Radium - Blue

Junkie - Green

and profess "cream, skip-proof, waterproof" goodness from these little beauties and I have to admit, they are not wrong! I wore Radium on my upper lids for about 12hrs with no smudging, no movement and no transfer of colour. It glided on in one swipe with fantastic colour pay off so there was no need to go over any area. This eyeliner wasnt cakey, nor did it peel or flake over time. And it came off just as easy as it went on with an oil free make up remover leaving no residue. I have only swatched the rest of the colours so I cant speak for all at the moment but from what I have seen I'm really excited to play with the rest to see if they live up to Radium's high standards. 

Has anyone else tried these eye pencils? What do you guys think of them? 

Stacey x x

Anew Lips by Avon.

Hi guys just a quick post to let you in on one of my most favourite brands of the moment for lips. Those of you from the UK should by rights know who Avon are. You may or may not have a brochure pushed through your letter box every so often or know some one in the area who is an Avon rep, it is an institution. I my self have a colleague who sells Avon and who, and I have no idea why, when I shout “Ding dong Avon calling” at him, doesn't seem to like it?

Now what I would like to show you today are two lip products from the Anew range. The Anew range is Avons specialist anti-ageing range covering ages from 30+ to 60+ and they include products such as cleansers, moisturisers, serums, eye creams etc. Now I cant rave about this range enough, I already use the Thermafirm Face Lifting Cream as my night moisturiser, I know I'm not 30 yet but literally 30 is knocking on my door and I'm a firm believer of prevention rather then cure, once those wrinkles get here nothing less than a face lift is going to make them go away!

So about 6 months ago I had been on the hunt for a new lip balm, I have tried loads of lip balms over the years and I am really picky about the criteria. It needs to have SPF in it because I am massive on sun protection. It has to have no colour because looking like a cricketer is not a good look for me and it actually has to have a formula that moisturises my lips. I know that sounds really weird because if it doesn't moisturise what's the point. I know its crazy but some lip balms I have tried actually make my lips more dry and cracked! What is that about?! With this in mind and the success I had had with the Thermafirm cream, I decided to give the Anew Beauty Lip Plumping Conditioner a go. Avon says, “Restore a youthful looking appearance and see plumper, fuller lips. With double the retinol to boost collagen renewal.” Which, complete with SPF15 sounded like my kind of product. Anew Lip Plump (which is what I'm calling it for short) normally retails at £9 but those of you that have purchased from Avon will know that everything in their brochure is on offer at some point so I paid £5 for mine. 

 

Just for the record generally I am a sceptical person when it comes to product claims because 90% of the time they are unfounded, so my realistic hopes for this product was just for it to moisturise my lips and keep the sun from hurting them, but what I received was so much more. I still can not believe what an effect this product has had on my lips! About a year ago I can remember noticing my top lip was slightly smaller and more creased than my bottom lip. Now I don't know if the rest of the world had noticed this but it was noticeable to me, especially when I wore high colour lipsticks, but in literally a few weeks of using this lip treatment I noticed my lips were smoother, a little bigger and they had evened in size. I cant actually believe I'm telling you this now because I have never seen a product, EVER that has worked as well as this on me. I was and still am truly amazed! Now lets get the disclaimer out of the way, this product has honestly worked on me and I can see my self repurchasing this for ever (so Avon you better not discontinue this) but I cant guarantee this will work for you. I haven't done a controlled scientific study with this product, I have just used it on little old me but if you want to give it a try you know my feelings on it.

As stated above I do have 2 products to show you today and this is the second. Still from the same range this is the Anew Beauty Youth Awakening Lipstick-Satin Finish. This has all the same properties as Anew Lip Plump but just with colour like a lipstick. I chose the colour Sugary Pink because I wanted something with just a hint of colour that I didn't need a lip liner or lip brush to put it on. This colour is a cross between a pink and a peach and as it is a satin finish it is frosty. All the lipsticks in the Youth Awakening range are a satin finish so they are all going to have a bit of shimmer in them. I have to admit that even thought this lipstick is lovely I would have preferred to have a choice between mat and satin. I am a big mat lipstick fan so I think that would have been slightly better for me. Never the less I will still be using this lipstick as my day time go to lipstick, with all the Collagen and Retinol goodness in it how could I say no? 

 

Speak soon.

Stacey x x