First thoughts: April Glossy Box

April GlossyBox

This month's GlossyBox theme is natural and organic. This is by far my favourite coloured box that I have received and really like the concept of it being organic products. 

Caudalie Vinosource SOS Thirst- Quenching Serum

Glad to receive another serum product in this box as it's not something I usually use and I loved trying the YSL serum in the Harrods box. I haven't tried this product yet but will try it under my moisturiser next time I put my make-up on. 

Inika Cosmetics Certified Organic Eyeliner

Really pleased that there is a make-up product this month as I loved the BM eyeshadow that I received in a previous GlossyBox. This eyeliner is really creamy and glides on. I got a black/silver colour which is a lovely metallic colour. 

Ayuuri Natural Body Wash

This is a full sized product at 200ml, which is great. I do have lots of shower gels already so would have loved to have received a Burt's Bees product or the Collagen mask instead. This one is scented with peppermint and tea tree, which leaves a tingling feeling on your skin which I really like with tea tree products. 

Figs & Rouge Lips Balm

This is my favourite product in this month box as rose is one of my favourite scents. This lip balm is lovely, it melts onto your lips and leaves them feeling soft, glossy and really moisturised. I would definitely purchase this again. 

Kai Perfume Oil

I haven't tried this product yet, this product is tiny so it does feel like I had 4 products rather than 5 this month. I definitely would have preferred a larger size sample to this small perfume sample. 

Overall I am pleased with this month's box, the eyeliner and lip balm are the stand out products for me. 

I am also looking forward to next month's anniversary box. 

What did you get in your GlossyBox and what did you think of the products?

See you in my next post 

xo

MAC eyeshadow duo: 'This & That'

Happy Easter everyone!

Last weekend I stopped off in Bicester Village- wow it's amazing I didn't think it would be so good. If you've never been it's definitely worth a day out if you have money saved up!!!

I went into TheCosmetics Company Store there, they had a small selection of discounted MAC items- most people were pushing and grabbing at. Only one thing caught my eye which was this eyeshadow duo in the shade 'This & That.' I only tend to wear nude colour eyeshadows so this is a perfect everyday duo for me.

The colours are really pigmented but light and soft. The lighter colour is a great highlight and the golden bronze colour is a great all over the lid colour. It's what I would call a really quick and easy to use eyeshadow. 

I'm not sure of the original price but this was £11. Considering you would pay that for one eyeshadow in MAC, I suppose that's pretty good going!

See you in my next post. 

xxx

MAC Ladybug lipstick

Top: New Look

Jacket: Zara

Leggings: H&M

Shoes: H&M

MAC 'Redd' lip pencil & MAC 'Ladybug' lipstick

Sorry for the awkward angles and not so great photography, I quickly took these on my way out last night.

Just a quick post to show you my make-up and outfit for a pub/bar night.

Really love MAC's Redd lip pencil, glides on really easily and is a really good colour match for Ladybug lipstick.

See you in my next post!

xx

Boots 3 for 2 offer! Bourjois, Revlon, Soap & Glory.

So I thought I'd wander back into Boots as this 3 for 2 offer on hair and beauty products is just too good to resist. And as expected, I didn't come out empty handed. In fact, if it wasn't for the rational part of my brain I would have come out with a lot more. (It was a change your mind, be realistic, put the excessive things back and head straight to the till before I change my mind kind of moment)

I had gone in for a hairbrush, I was working in Bournemouth for the weekend and forgot to pack a hairbrush and went in just before the store was closing. Needless to say I totally forgot about the hairbrush once I was in there, but I am pretty pleased with the products I did get. 

I got the Bourjois '1 2 3 Perfect' foundation £9.99, Soap & Glory eyeshadow quad in 'What's nude' £9.99 and Revlon Colorburst Lipgloss in 040 Crystal Water £7.99. 

I have used the foundation once and loved it. At the moment I've really suffered with my oily skin and I've found that the Loreal Lumi Magique foundation I've been using has been making the situation worse. I have always been impressed with Bourjois Foundations and I love this one. It lasted all day and gave me a matte finish with out being too matte. It also prevented my face from appearing to be oily. 

The Revlon lipgloss was something I saw on Louise (Sprinkle of Glitter) and Zoe (Zoella)'s video. It is a clear gloss with pink and blue shimmer sparkling through it when held up to the light- really pretty.

                             

The palette includes four matte shades and one shimmer. 

Left to right: Vanilla, Pink T, Mudhoney and Aubersheen.

Swatches of the colours, I did have MAC paint pot in 'Painterly' under these colours as a primer.

Really impressed with this quad as it is perfect for me, I am a huge fan of neutral colours and you could pack this palette to go anywhere with. Definitely a brilliant contender in the nude palette market and feel like it's much easier to put in my handbag over the Naked Palette. I am also pleased that there are 3 matte shades and one shimmer. For me, I prefer matt nude colours over shimmer. So for me this was well worth the money and I'm impressed with the pigmentation. 

See you in my next post 

xxx

Brush review: Real Techniques by Samantha Chapman

Hi everyone!

I'm really excited as I have had my eyes on these brushes ever since Sam from Pixiwoo announced she had a range coming out. Pixiwoo are my favourite makeup artists on YouTube so trusted that the brushes would be good. 

I had been excited to see them in Boots ever since they arrived, but put off getting them every time or convinced myself I didn't need them. However, last week Boots had a 3 for 2 offer on many beauty products including these brushes. I also had a £5 off voucher so I got them for a lot less than they usually should be. 

I got the core collection, blush brush and powder brush. They came to £29 (should usually be around £44) so it's definitely worth taking advantage of Boots offers or your points on your card if you've saved them up.

Sorry one box is upside down! Left to right: Powder brush, core collection and blush brush.

I can safely say I have certainly not been disappointed with these brushes, they are what are expected from Sam and more! These brushes are incredibly soft and the powder and blush brush are so big- but perfect for powder products. 

The Core Collection comes in a case which you can also stand up on your makeup table. They also have 2 extra spaces so I can put my powder brush and blush brush in there too which is great. 

My favourites so far are the blush and powder brush, the contour brush and the buffing brush (both from core collection). The buffing brush is absolutely perfect for foundation. I use the small foundation brush for concealer as it is pointed so gets right underneath the eyes. 

I can't rave about these brushes enough. These are all you need to do your face makeup everyday. I am now considering purchasing the eye brush collection!

If you have any specific questions about these brushes just ask! Or even leave your thoughts on the brushes below if you already have them!

Have a great weekend :)

OPI: Nicki Minaj mini collection

This is my first time trying out OPI nail polishes, although I do remember when my mom used to buy them in Superdrug for a pound, what happened to those days?

I found these on Asos, they were £12.95, which I thought was fairly reasonable to try these out. 

They took around 5 days to arrive as I chose the free delivery option. When I opened them I was quite surprised at how small they are. I knew they would be mini but they really are tiny. 

As for the colours,  I really like them. Especially 'Metallic 4 life' which is an unusual glitter with strands of blue glitter in. 

At the moment I have 'Pink Friday' on with 'Metallic 4 life' on top. The glitter has helped to cover up any imperfections in my nails as a result of taking my acrylic nails off. 

I have had the polish on for around 3-4 days and it has chipped a fair bit. I am going to try the other two colours next to see how they last. 

I really want to try the Muppets for OPI collection but don't seem to be able to find the mini's.

xxx

Acrylic nails

Hi girls, 

First of all, I'm very sorry it's been so long. I hope you will welcome me back to blogging. I have missed you all!....

I decided my first post back should be about  acrylic nails. 

I'll explain the process of acrylic nails first for anyone who hasn't had theirs done before.

I had my full set put on a week before Christmas. I had light pink tips. 

First set: pink tips

Second set: sprayed on white tips

Your own nails are filed down and a plastic tip is glued on. Then they are cut down to size and a layer of acrylic is pasted on top. They are filed and polished to get this finished result. 

My first set were around £20 and £18 to have them re done. 

I had around 4 sets before I decided to try and take them off before I went on holiday last week. I would usually wait around 3 weeks before I had them re done. 

While they look nice, I did miss painting my own nails and experimenting with colours. 

When I took them off I made the mistake of trying to soak them off myself in nail polish remover. I ended up filing them down and making a bit of a mess of them. They now look relatively normal with polish on top. But my right index fingernail is significantly weak as I filled it down too much.

It will be a while before they grow back to a healthy condition. 

If you bite your nails or they are in bad condition, acrylic nails will make your hands feel elegant. However if you do have a lovely set of healthy nails, I would not recommend dabbling with acrylic. If you do, have them taken off professionally!

See you in my next post!

:)

xxx