Must be my lucky day

Last night I entered BeautyUK's Twitter competition, all you had to do was re tweet and follow them. As it happens I searched them on Twitter to follow them last night anyway.

The competition ended at 11pm but the winner wasn't to be announced until this morning.

I went to work placement as usual and went to check my emails and I had a direct message on Twitter from BeautyUK. I clicked on it and I couldn't believe it when it said:

"CONGRATULATIONS!!!! You've won our £50 goodie bag of beautyuk cosmetics!! Please DM us with your postal address and we'll get it in the post!"

I never ever win any competitions so I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw this! I feel very lucky!

I will definitely inform you when it arrives and show you what I got.

Mean while, I had a browse on their site and these are the products I'm loving...

(these remind me of NYX eye pencils)

All there products are priced at extremely reasonable prices. You can find their website here. 

A turquoise obsession.

I'm going to cut straight to the point. This is a post full of pictures of turquoise jewellery, because I am obsessed.

I can't get enough of it. 

I really want a real silver and turquoise ring in my life. 

Beauuuuuutiful! on that note I'm off to bed. 

Lazy Girls Guide: Removing make-up before bed

I know some nights all you want to do is flop in to bed and go to sleep, but I've begun to learn the importance of removing make-up properly before bed.

Not only does it keep your skin clear and healthy, it keeps spots away and makes your skin feel like it can breathe, and personally I think it reduces the oil on your face.

I feel like my face is dirty if I don't remove my make-up before bed now and this is since I followed a simple routine to taking it off that only involves three products... four if you are visited by mother nature and her 'spot week'!

These can be any brands of the products I mention, doesn't have to be the ones I use at all.

Firstly, make up wipes, I have tried those cheap ones from the chemists and they are like wiping sand paper across your face, not one drip of moisture in them.

Whilst the M.A.C make-up wipes are extremely moist, I find that those are a treat only reserved for wiping lipstick swatches off my hand when I'm in the M.A.C shop where you can take one for free (Lol!)

I've found that Asda's own make-up wipes (the ones in pink and white packaging) are great and they are £1 a pack. I also love Boot's essentials in the blue pack (they are usually 3 for £3) are just as good, those are the one's I'm using at the moment.

STEP 1:

I start with taking my make-up off with a wipe, you can skip this and go straight to cleanser.


STEP 2:

I'm using the Clarins cleansing milk at the moment. Any cleanser will do the same job, getting off the make-up that the make-up wipe didn't. You will be surprised how much make-up is still on your face after you have used a make-up wipe. You can use the cleanser with a cotton wool pad.

STEP 3:

I either spray this directly on my face (eyes shut of course) or apply it with a cotton wool pad. Leaves your face fresh and tea tree oil is good for fighting spots.

EXTRAS

If you're eye make-up is stubborn, use an eye makeup remover. I'm using No.7 at the moment. I get it off with a cotton wool pad. This one is oily (like most eye make-up removers) but does the job well. 

If I have any blemishes, I like to use this spot wand from boots which has tea tree and witch hazel in it. It has separate day and night ends and looks like a lipgloss. It doesn't really matter which end you use though, it dries the spot up over night and I really recommend it. 

Images:

Cleansing make-up wipes

Tea tree water

No 7 eye make-up remover

Spot wand

Review: Accessorize cosmetics

During a casual browse in Superdrug after university today, my friend and I came across a new cosmetics stand filled with cosmetics by Accessorize.

I was very excited when I saw the stand as I have an Accessorize eyeshadow palette from last Christmas which I love, so I expected that their cosmetics would be good.

First off, their packaging is very pretty and the prices are very reasonable. Their stand is filled with pretty lipsticks, baked eyeshadows and blushers and lovely face powders.

I also tested out their liquid highlighter which had great reflective iridescent pigments in, which was lovely and was only £7.

They also have mini eyeshadow palettes which come with a small tube of eye primer for £6.

I was after a peach blusher so I got excited when I saw this one.

           In shade '3-Pretty Pink,' it is called a 'merged blusher.'

It is a very light peach coloured blush with fine veins of lilac running through. It looks sheer on the hand but with a pretty peach colour visible, and would be lovely as a highlighter or blush- especially with a tan. It will look lovely in the summer.

The blush only costs £5.50 which I think was very reasonable, as it reminds me of an msf from M.A.C.

I've tried out baked products from Avon before and I have found them very hard and don't have much colour pay off but this certainly isn't the case here. You only have to touch it lightly to pick up product and it leaves a lovely shimmer that is picked up by natural light.

I'm really impressed with this range and the packaging and price sells it even more. I can't wait to try out more things in this range, it really is lovely.

The range is available at Superdrug and you can receive 10% off with a student NUS card.

Pai skincare

I found a great natural skincare company- Pai. They are a luxury skincare company but sell completely natural moisturisers, body care, cleansers and lip care products.

I like the company because they categorise their products according to each problem, so they sell products for acne, eczema, rosacea and other skin related problems.

I have one of their moisturisers which is the 'camomile and rosehip sensitive skin moisturiser.' Rather than me writing my own description, here's what the website claims:

"Rich in anti-oxidants and Omega 3 & 6, Chamomile and Rosehip work in perfect unison to soothe and protect sensitive skin.

This delicately scented natural moisturiser has strong regenerative and anti-inflammatory properties.

Our sensitive skin cream is free from alcohol which can trigger conditions such as Rosacea.

It is also free from chemical skin irritants including artificial fragrances, phenoxyethanol, propylene glycol and parabens"

As with any new product, if you're skin is particularly sensitive, I would definitely recommend a skin patch test before going ahead and putting it all over your face.

                          Image from Pai. 

Pai has a great little sample pack available to buy which is fab because it gives you the option to try them out and make sure that your skin won't react badly to the product.

I have friends who have very sensitive skin, so I have seen how buying new products can be frustrating and time consuming.

This moisturiser is very soothing, my face felt so fresh after using it, and it's incredibly light. Some moisturisers can leave a thick layer on your skin and this isn't one of those moisturisers at all.

As it happens, my skin isn't too sensitive and I had no problems with this moisturiser, it's a lovely luxury moisturiser. It comes very securely packaged and would be great as presents.

As it happens, my Mom has a little acne rosacea every so often on her face, so after reading that this moisturiser was good for that, i recommended that she tried it out.

Now it sits permanently on her shelf, she absolutely loves it, and together with some tea tree face wash, the blemish has really cleared up. I'm so pleased that it's working so well for her, so it only seems right to let her have it! It's a lovely moisturiser though so I guess we will have to share, that's what best friends are for!

The moisturiser costs £22 for a 30ml bottle, so it is definitely a treat yourself product. The product is completely free from irritating chemicals and is naturally fragranced. It is also an organic product.

Visit Pai here. Use the scroll down menu to select your country.

Natural Collection lipsticks

If you have stumbled across my blog then hello :) or if you have been directed here from YouTube, here are some swatches of three Natural Collection lipsticks. 


There are the 'Moisture Shine' lipsticks which have a lot more cover pay off than the sheer lipsticks. They are £1.99 or 3 for £5, all available at Boots. They are well worth the money and save splurging on a £12.50 Mac lipstick. 


They are very smooth and moisturising, not drying at all. 

                                        Packaging- basic white plastic. 

Moisture Shine lipsticks in 'Pink Mallow,' 'Rose Bud,' & 'Rose Petal.'

Above:'Rose Petal'

                         Above:'Rose Bud'

                          
                        Above:'Pink Mallow'

Top to bottom: Pink Mallow, Rose Bud, Rose Petal. 

          Left to right: Rose Petal, Rose Bud, Pink Mallow. 

The thrill of a bargain

I have made three purchases from the sales so far, and these were on Boxing day. Yes, I braved the Boxing day sales, some may call it mad, I like to think more 'dedicated shopper' myself.

My purchases included a burgundy long cardigan from Topshop for £15, an eagle v- neck t- shirt from Urban Outfitters for £12.99, and various jewellery pieces from Topshop, including hair bows, a detailed necklace and some fox earrings. No, I did not need these items, but there's always a compelling obligation to buy something from the sales.

So there, I thought I was done with the sales for this year, all that pushing and queuing to look at last season, and in some cases (stores will not be named), several previous seasons stock. I'm just not really a sale type of person.

However, yesterday I did brave the arctic conditions to take a visit to Birmingham City center. The Bullring was like a ghost town, ahh bliss!

I had time to browse the sales and I did take my bargain hunting friend, and in result I did find the bargain of the century! Some tailored harem trousers from H&M for just £5! I also purchased a beautiful sleeved blouse, with lace detail (not in the sale) for £19.99, also from H&M. All in all, my outfit for my meal with the girls cost me just £24.99.

And the finished article...


I did get a "oh I love your blouse, is it vintage" from a nice drunk lady. Who continued to pester me for quite a while may I add.

Though I do love the detail in the blouse...

On another note, my friend bought me a 'snood' for Christmas, which I love! It shall come in very useful in the cold climate!

~Jessica