Christmas sale part one

I only wanted 3 things in the Boots half price sale today, the No7 bronzer set, the polish set and Marc Jacobs Daisy giftbox... I only managed to nab two out of three :(

Swatched are the two colours, damson dream and hot to trot. It took two coats to get the foil-ey finish. At first I was a bit worried about the quality of the polish; sometimes gift sets are made more cheaply than normal products on brands lines. The first coat was very weak and thin, I thought, gosh it's going to take me at least 5 to get a sweetie wrapper finish! but the second coat, did the trick to make it opaque, so I'm very happy!

I was also worried about the bronzers when I got home and reviewed the box details. Made in Thailand it stated, I wondered, do Thailand make good cosmetics?! However they are wonderfully buttery soft. The mosaic and duo one, have a little more fall out than the baked Bobbi Brown style brick however I'm happy to keep all in my collection and not give them away as gifts. The brush itself is made in China, described as 'beautifully soft', it's actually more on the scratchy cheapy side. 

Polish set 1/2 price at £5.00

Bronzers set 1/2 price at £8.00

Boots

UNII palette review

UNII palettes are basically an empty palette, there are no specific holes that fit eye shadows or blushers like the MAC ones, instead it's just free flow. The bottom of the palette is magnetized, so in theory it will stick to the tray; if the casing of the make up item isn't magnetic, the kit also comes with magnet stickers to do the job for you.

Glossybox Decemeber 2012 review

I've been waiting days for this bloody thing to come. I've been Googling reviews like crazy, just to see a glimpse of what I might get. So after days of waiting, I received the holy grail... or did I?

Roaccutane the saviour pill

I am so sorry I have been MIA for quite some time. Today, I was more than motivated to blog, as I want to RANT! I have been so disgruntled lately with the 'news' on short bursts of current affairs on the BBC and of course hypeuptheproblem Daily Mail. Everyone and their uncle is trying to highlight the dangers of Roaccutane. 

Having been prescribed the drug myself (I think for a 6 month course) I am a living testament of what a miracle these pills are. Yes, there are side effects hence why it can only be prescribed by a dermatologist. He or She monitors the patient very closely on the course of the prescription (every 3 or 4 weeks). Also, you are told of the negative outcomes; including depression and how a small statistic of patients have committed suicide, which was probably due to the drug. Not only does the dermatologist lists the side effects but you are also required to sign a waiver, saying you have been told of the side effects, you understand and agree to go ahead. 

During my final months of the prescription, I was on 70mg a day. This is a rather high dosage but the doctor prescribes on the the basis of how well you have been coping with drug (emotionally and other side effects); how the progress of trying to clear the acne is going and height and body weight. I didn't feel I was effected in terms of my emotional health, my main side effects were extreme dry and sensitive skin and very achey achey joints. Nevertheless, my dermatologist always made a point of asking how I was feeling emotionally. 

Roaccutane saved my life. I know I would never have been able to do well in university academically as well as socially. How does acne effect your studies??? Simple, I wouldn't have had the confidence to participate well in group work or even talk to lecturers without being self conscious and insecure. 

Yes, I understand some young adults have died from the nasty side effects of this drug. However lets not forget everything in life has risks, surgery has risk, would we stop operating on people due to 1% of those patients unfortunately die? no. I wish their parents would stop campaigning for Roaccutane to be banned. It's none of their business, this drug in my personal opinion does more good than bad. Banning this drug would mean that thousands of young adults who could take the drug and only have minor side effects like me, can't have the desired, insecure and self conscious free life they could. 

If you are a sufferer of acne, choosing the the best course of action is ultimately up to you and your body. There are many different treatments for this awful skin condition and if it has been long term, I would suggest speaking to your GP. I was told at 16, that I would grow out of it, I didn't and had to suffer years of waiting for the miracle day I would wake up with clear skin. As a result of that, I have a few prominent areas of scarring and terrible memories of being insecure and ashamed. 

It feels quite sad and superficial to say that a skin condition has held me back in the past. Should I have embraced my flaws instead of feeling sorry for myself? It's hard to say, maybe I could have been a little less negative and focused on all the positive aspects in my life. Nevertheless, my acne is gone and I have to thank Roaccutane and my dermatologist from the bottom of my heart.

No7 match made service

Remember to ask for a sample to take away :)

I am no way a fan of No7 make up, even with the whole redesign from make up artist Lisa Eldridge, I still find the brand dreary. Of course, there are perks, such as the £5 vouchers Boots frequently gives out and lately the new promise of finding your perfect match shade of foundation

My experience.

A small amount of makeup removed from each side of my jaw line and then a snap on each by the sales assistant. Simple. The shade that I was matched to was 'warm ivory'. 

I asked the No7 girl, where that shade is on the colour spectrum, pink or yellow? She hadn't a clue what I was talking about. Sigh.

I was not given a tour about all the types of foundations they had on offer, or what type of coverage and finish I wanted. She simply grabbed 'stay perfect' which is fine as it's like Mac studio finish.

Below is how the colour compares to my usual choices of foundations right now, L'oreal lumi magique and Mac studio sculpt. 

Even though the No7 shade looks lighter than L'oreal, I did find No7 looked much darker on my skin, as it oxidised... but only slightly. I've got incredibly dry skin at the moment, so stay perfects gluey formula made the skin very uncomfortable and highlighted the dry patches, making everything appear even more pinky and inflamed.

I'm not 100% happy with the shade compared to my lovely yellow based mac, which neutralises everything on my face, so no purchase here.

Urban Decay 24/7 eyeliner Vs Jemma Kidd define eyeliner review

Elle magazine is currently giving away Jemma Kidd's make up school, i-glamour, define eyeliner. On her website the eyeliner is described as "velvety soft, stay put, maximum impact and no dragging". Sounds very similar, I thought, to my loyal Urban Decay 24/7 glide on eye pencil. Which they in turn describe as "creamy and forever lasting". So let the battle begin!!!

Essie Fifth Avenue swatch and review

A new lacquer has arrived into my collection!

Essie in fifth avenue.

A beautiful red with a hint of orange. More red than coral but I still love this unusual shade. Painted with one coat (can you believe it!) with Essie's protein base coat. The base coat makes my nails feel much harder than others I have tried, a new favourite!! Click here to find the £1.79 dupe!!

On a side note, I feel lavishly pampered with my Fekkai shampoo and Korres body milk. More on another post :)

Mavala nail polish review

I feel everyone seems to forget about Mavala with bigger brands like O.P.I, Essie and Nails inc. Mavala however do amazing polishes, better than average chip resistant, strong glossy colour in one coat, no streaks, lovely. 

They also come in more convenient sizes (5mls) so remember all the hype about the new L'oreal polishes? Well Mavala did it first. 

Their polishes are described as nail cremes, which is the perfect description. They are nice and thick, so won't run down the sides if you're too heavy handed like Essie polishes. I think they retail about £5 each in Debenhams or if you buy a pack you save x amount as always. The colour pictured below is called 'Freshy'. 

GLOSSYBOX JUNE UK 2012 REVIEW

Sorry for the late post, it got delivered at 12 (my Hermes guy is super reliable) but I've been moving out of my uni house hence posting just now.

Firstly, you get a Glossybox blush brush (said rrp £15 but it obviously only took £2 to manufacture). Dermalogica clean start kit (Toner, cleanser and matte spf moisturiser) rrp £12. A bare minerals sample of bronzer value is £1 ish. An Yves Rocher mascara sample. Vichy dermablend sample kit.

What do I look think?

Glossybox has definitely taken on board that people want to sample make up. However, I'm a little disappointed with what I got. I don't really like anything in the box. The skin care kit looks like its for oily young skin type, it definitely smells like it has some strong astringents in! The bare minerals bronzer has already stained my carpet with my first attempt to just swatch it. The Glossy blush brush is scratchy. The Yves Rocher mascara although is lovely and does as it says on the tin, unfortunately, isn't waterproof, so won't hold a curl. Lastly, I can only use one colour with the Vichy sample but will be cutting out and handing the tiny sample to my friends with x skin tone.

Yes, complain, complain, complain!!

L'oreal and Revlon eyeliners review

Click here to enter my Asian skincare giveaway

Currently I have three eyeliners in my collection. The old L'oreal superliner carbon gloss (discontinued), its new replacement L'oreal super liner black lacquer and Revlon's colorstay liquid eye pen. Here are the snaps.  

Drawn on the hand from top to bottom are carbon gloss, black lacquer and Revlon. I tried to press down using the same strength for each. Revlon is very poor even when layering. I'm not sure if you can see in the picture but the L'oreal eyeliners are very glossy and the pigment is truly dense and wonderful. 

The smudge test with a wet finger! As you can see Revlon is none existent and the new super liner, black lacquer is super resilient. I can confirm that teamed with Urban Decay eye primer, even oil based eye make up remover has a hard job! 

In Boots, L'oreal carbon gloss retails at £6.49 and Revlon's doesn't appear on the website any more but again retailed at around £6.

Sensitive skin products (Roaccutane)

When I was taking Roaccutane, I experienced the usual side effects of extremely sensitive dry skin; So, I thought I would blog about the products that I used and were to become my saviours. These products would also be great for hyper sensitive skin types too.

Lets start with Carmex. This medicated lip balm was my hero, it didn't get rid of the dryness or the cracks or the bleeding... but it did take away the pain and a hella lot better than other lip products on the market. Post Roaccutane side effects, it makes my lips plump, shiny and no cracks. (p.s. when I was on the medication, it was five whole months of extreme dry lip hell!)

And to moisturisers. I was prescribed a lot of eczema type creams to relieve the dryness, not only for my face but the rest of the body too, things like dermal and other super yucky lard creams. The only one that benefited me, was Doublebase. It's a gel cream type consistency and although sat on the skin, when used overnight, in the morning my skin would absorb it and would feel more comfortable. I remember it occasionally stung but not as bad as the other creams I was given. I recommended my dad who has eczema to give it ago, he too said this cream was a lot better than the other prescriptions. Although I was prescribed this product, you can also buy it over the counter in pharmacies. Neutrogena deep comfort balm was the body moisturiser I used on my skin during the day because it absorbed well. Doublebase was too gloopy to use under clothes, so I opted for this one instead. It soaked in quite well however because it's scented it did have a slight burning feel initially.

The creams that were prescribed to me, were also recommended as face and body washes - yuck! For me, I used Avene cream soap, this soap was great, gentle, no stinging, creamy and moisturising. It's not cheap about £6 for a small bar, which goes very quickly!

I used Garnier sensitive toner to cleanse my face in the morning, as I usually don't shower or use water to wash my face then. This had no stinging! Pro points! and it continues to give relief to my skin when it's dry, I love this stuff. I didn't however, use the moisturiser during my course of Roaccutane but it's a product I recently discovered and it always sits on my shelf. I travel to Durham/Newcastle quite frequently, where the wind whips your face and I find this product soothes my skin, no stinging unlike L'oreal Hydrafesh.

During my course of Roaccutane, I tried many other products, Jergens (stings), Aveeno (Too sticky), Bio oil (did nothing) that wasn't right for me.  Oh and also, the medication dried out my skin so much, I didn't really need to wash my hair unless it started to smell. I didn't have any problems with my usual shampoo and conditioner (L'oreal Elvive) but I did have a bottle of sensitive Head and Shoulders to hand, in case when things got really bad. Another point ABSOLUTELY NO HAIR COLOURING.

Perfume samples

I think I have an addiction to drama and there has been loads of it on the GB Fb page. Most regarding Collection 2000, HD brows and perfume samples - Can we get them from department stores?

I agree these 0.8ml samples are rather stingy and ideally shouldn't be in a luxury sized sample beauty box.

I have received about 4 samples in the past 12 months. Pictured above is Lancome Hypnose Senses 1.5ml and Miss Dior Cherie 2ml. The other samples have been another Hypnose and Givenchy one, similar sizes, which I have lost :/

How do you get them? Normally, you should buy your perfume from one place, mine being Boots and build a good rapport with the perfume sales assistant and plus spend lots of money. I have worked on perfume and we did not give samples to anyone unless they were a frequent customer or had bought a perfume.

So what do I think about the perfume debate? 0.8ml is rather stingy and if GB did negotiate with Lolita Lempicka they should have obtained a better one. And if LL perfume samples are not given away for free, it's a much smaller size than those that do, such as the much higher end Dior. These are all average samples non the less and nothing special for example I received a 3ml rollerball samples from SSB, yes I know its Kim K but it was more appreciated than LL.

It's not that much of a stretch considering some received HD brows retailing around £20! How about offering those that didn't a better substitute? Spehora do travel sized 10 ml rollerballs of Stella McCartney and Marc Jacobs for $20 UK exchange for £12. Now that's what I call a luxury sample :p

GLOSSYBOX UK MAY 2012 ANNIVERSARY BOX REVIEW

So everyone or nearly everyone is complaining about Glossybox's anniversary sample box on Facebook. I've been hearing things like people receiving Collection 2000. Full size fair enough but not high end as promised. I can see where people are coming from with this. I remember seeing a sample of Baptise dry shampoo last year!! How awful and what a way to bring down brand image.

This is the box I received this morning. No Collection 2000 thank God.

I've lost the card it comes with already :/

But the things are

2 sachets of Apvita honey mask

10ml of Berber (argon) hair oil

Noble Isle shower gel 75ml

Eldora eyelashes

2 0.8ml samples of Lolita Lempicka perfume

A mirror and a balloon (Birthday gifts)

This is overall an ok box, not amazing but I don't have much to complain about, seeing as I didn't receive the Collection 2000 pencil. It's not an expensive box but still worth more than £10. Very disappointed with the eyelashes, I remember the status price was £3.80 and seeing as my standard Ardell ones retail over £5, it's not great, is it?

Here is a close up

The 30p sheet mask

What do you do with all the serum left behind in the packet of your sheet mask?

The brands I have chosen to buy, SaSa, My beauty diary etc are very generous with the super tonic serum and often there are loads left behind even after the mask is saturated. I've been wasting it until not very often when an idea struck me. I decided to empty the contents in a free toner bottle and planned to pat the serum on my face when I wanted a treat. After visiting Muji, I came up with a much more ingenious plan.

These paper face masks come 5 for £1.50. I simply pop the mask in a vaseline line, squirt the mask with the serum until it's saturated and unfolds. AND VOILA a mask for 30 pence. These Muji masks are not as thick and as soft as the ones from korea but hey ho, my skin still gets the whitening moisturising treat it craves.

No7 beautifully balanced toner review

I ran out of toner today and found this ones lurking in the back of my treasure chest. There's a simple reason why it was there... It's awful. When I bought this, there was an offer for 3 for 2 and teamed with the description online, being that it was alcohol free, I decided to give it a try. It's NOT alcohol free, in fact the second ingredient is just that. It stinks so bad of the stuff, it's likely to give you a hangover. With all alcohol based products it leaves the skin feeling sticky not clean. Alcohol is a common ingredient for toners for oily/combination skin, this is to dry it up mainly. However, it's really bad for that skin type, in fact it encourages skin to produce more oil and sebum, which in turns means more breakouts. A good toner for oily combo skin without alcohol and on a budget is Garnier essential ones, the rose one for sensitive skin being one of my favourites. So save your money and your £5 vouchers and steer clear of No7 toner. However, if you need a good desk cleaner, this will do just the trick.

Migranes and pixlromatic

Sasa Haul

Here are some of the contents of my haul from sasa.com that I received last week.

Well I actually I bought multiple of all the items posted... as well as lip balms and Rohto eye drops which I've already misplaced! In the picture though are: Skinlite hair pack (mask as thick as toothpaste and an essence cap. Like the Japanese essential hair care brand smells indulgently of honey. Next are four Laniege water sleeping packs. In the UK where you get generous sample packs form brands like Clinique when you buy two or more products, HK actually sell these samples individually. I bought four as it equated to the full size jar but I saved a couple of quid. A single foam hair curler (from a pack of 6) curls hair into lose japanese style curls without heat. CM papaya and tomato whitening gels, this is something I've never tried before but the texture is like a more fluid Clinique moisture surge (FYI, tomato smells horrible). I think the small green face masks are Cosline? whitening green tea fluid masks... I thought these were sheet masks :( Attirer cotton sheets/pads. This seems like a silly thing to export from abroad but I love asian cotton pads, they never flake and even the cheapest brands are soft and silky. Lastly there is a lifecella mask, which Sasa sent as a complimentary gift. All in all, this haul was a waste of money, I had spent a few weeks building up my basket to get free shipping. However when that date came, nearly half and the good stuff was removed due to no stock and I ended up purchasing all the filler items.

Here is a picture of Laneige sleeping pack. As you can see, its a milky translucent gel. It smells wonderful and works as an overnight moisturiser/mask which is to be washed off in the morning. Hydrates and plumps skin very well, yet is absorbed as soon as it touches the skin.

Missha PK05 nail polish. Milky, gel, coral.

And my favourite polish remover, Suki in rose. Smells wonderful from Sasa and retails at about £1.50. Hard to find on their website though.

She said beauty box

Here is a sum up of my overall experience with She said beauty monthly premium sample boxes. I have received all three boxes I subscribed too and overall I would rate the experience 8/10. However, under experiences, it's things like the expectation, the surprise etc. The products I received in the box, I would rate 5/10. The reason for this is due to the promise of premium samples not being delivered, I received things like cheap soap made in China, collection 2000 lip puffs,Kim Kardashian perfume samples and stingy amounts of sample sachets. Some of the more expensive products and full sized ones like Inka make up, didn't appeal to me. It didn't help that the colours I got were disgusting and unflattering. Having said all that, I understand that everything is random but I do feel that She said beauty being a new service doesn't have many good brands under their belt, hence the products are not as good as ones offered by Glossybox. I've barely even tried any of the samples I got from She said beauty; they're all still in their boxes stacked on my windowsill. :/ My Glossybox subscription will continue. Lasts months box was full of full sized delights and with their birthday coming up, I can't wait for more and hopefully bonus surprises!!!

Quick Reviews

I'm back at home from uni and have decided to do some quick reviews of the products I have back in my room and also a few which I have recently purchased. Lighting has been very poor due to my room being back facing and also the heavy amount of clouds in the sky, so I tried to spruce them up with some photoshop.. Did I fail?? haha.

So what's up first. Two Maybelline products, Illegal lengths (fiber extension) mascara and the Dream fresh BB cream.



The mascara, as its description has little fibers which are meant to brush on to the end of the lashes, creating lengths. There are loads of these type mascaras in Asia, having tried more than a few, I don't feel this product matches some of the standards. There are little fibers in the formula, so it doesn't create the overall desired outcome. However, this may be because it's new and needs to dry up a bit. Having said that, thumbs up to Maybelline, it does a good job of volume and hold and also comes in a waterproof formula, which is rare in the UK for a new release.
On to the BB cream. to my knowledge, they come in four shades, one of which is called 'universal glow' which I presume is a tanning type product. It boasts 8 benefits, the most important one being SPF30 and is oil free. The colours I tested come in a yellow based formula, thumbs up for me! I saw Maybelline's BB cream last year in Hong Kong but decided against it because of the ashy colours, the UK versions are more suited for me. I feel the only pro for me is the SPF, the cons are that its extremely shimmery and has very light coverage, thus, why I'm going to reserve this product as a primer. Another con and this maybe just for me, is that although it states 30ml (standard amount of product for a foundation) when I opened it, about 50% was air in the tube, so really only 15/20mls at most.

Next up, L'oreal color riche polish in 305 and total nail RX, build me up, nail hardener.



I was disappointed with the polish, it does give an amazing shine but only with two thick coats, its also a bit streaky. Another fail, is the bottle, a perfect 5ml size to travel with, especially compared to Revlon's but the long neck of the bottle makes painting nails a little more difficult than normal.
The Total nail RX, I bought for only £1! from Boots clearance sale. It does an amazing job too. Recently my nails have been splitting (too much washing up.. note to self, most stop!) but this product has definitely made a difference, especially to polish staying power. I have only tried it with Mavala varnsihes though, which themselves are really good, so we shall see how it fairs up with L'oreal color riche. This nail hardener is brilliant especially compared to the more costly Orly one I have been using.

Mascara review

Mascara is one of the most essential parts of my make up routine. Some people have flawless skin that doesn't need to be enhanced by foundation. Some people have amazing brows which doesn't need any penciling... Some people have amazing eyelashes... which can always be enhanced by mascara. MASCARA IS ABSOLUTE LOVE! It's essential, unlike blush and foundation which have other meanings, mascara has one meaning and it's so special and universal, it's defined in the dictionary... Come on, you wouldn't find 'brow pencil' in there would you?!?

Lets start with my preferences. I have classic oriental lashes, little of them and short. So, when I look for a mascara, I want volume and length, hold, absolutely no smudging or budging. A lot to ask right? AS, you will notice, all my mascara is waterproof. Waterproof mascara have more hold (wax), so it will hold a curl better than a washable formula. If a new mascara with amazing claims come onto the market, I will not buy it until a waterproof formula comes out.

Maybelline lash stilleto
Although, this is the only maybelline product I feature, I LOVE nearly all the maybelline mascaras I have purchased (I hate one by one). This is my favourite one because the brush is thin and I can zig zag through my lashes without printing it on my eyelid. Like with all mascaras, its a bit watery for my liking but after a good few uses, the formula will start to thicken and give lots of volume.

Eyeko Skinny mascara
This is a cult product and I haven't a clue why. The wand gets so much product on it, I end up with three eyelashes. The end.

Suki 3D
This was purchased in Hong Kong for the equivalent of five English pounds. The formula is a gel type consistency and the wand is plastic, with two types of combs on either side. Its the classic Japanese type formula, where it's water poof but can be removed with hot water, very practical!! The mascara performs only adequately for me, I get separation but little length or volume.

Lavshuca curl mascara
Again purchased in Hong Kong for around £10. Its got the same wand as Maybelline lash discovery (Discontinued US product) whereas that one was great for building volume, this mascara performs poorly. Very disappointed and only exists in my current collection because the packaging is rather pretty.

Maxfactor 2000 calorie
Again, rather disappointing. Like Benefit Bad Gal, this waterproof formula has a different wand to the washable formula. Instead of the nice thick fuzzy wand, you get a bog standard one like how you may expect from a £3 mascara. The wand on the original washable formula is what made lashes boom with volume, as it coated and coated every lash. The formula on this waterproof mascara is also not as thick and creamy as the washable one.

Loreal lash architect
Lovely thick formula, doesn't require lashes to be curled, creates loads of volume however I can only really have 3 coats before it starts getting clumpy. It also smudges a hellalot even though its supposedly waterproof...

Loreal volume million lashes
I hate plastic wands but thought I would give this a try. Its ok for definiton thanks to the tube removing excess product but volume? not quite so much. However it does layer very well, so you can coat until your heart desires.

Clinique high impact
Remember this mascara when it launched? It claimed you did not need to use an eyelash curler. Wrong!! its watery, so tiny straight lashes like mine, you definitely do! The curved brush also doesn't perform great as it's hard to get the lashes on the inner and outer of the eye without poking yourself. Again, has the Japanese type formula, which can be removed with warm water.

Clinique lash building primer
It doesn't really do anything...

Some past mascaras which I absolutely loved but aren't featured in my collection are:
Maybelline falsies
Maybelline collosal
Canmake fur mascara

I'm looking forward for the Maybelline illegal length fibre mascara to hit the UK!

A scent worth a million

From left to right: Issey Miyake, Stella McCartney, Gucci Envy Me, Pacco Roabanne Lady Million, Juicy Couture, Victor & Rolf Flowerbomb, Chloe, Gucci Flora, Dior J'adore, Agent Provocateur, Agent Provocateur Maitresse.

She said beauty box

I was very pleased to come home from uni today, to see that my beauty box has arrived early! She said beauty is the newest beauty box and I signed up for 2 reasons.

One. being a new beauty box, its launch product samples have to be good in order to keep subscribers but also to gain new ones (thank god my degree is useful!)

Two. SSB is £1 less than its competitors (i.e. Glossy box) also, it has great deals, first box for around £7 or subsribe for 3 months etc for x amount off.

So lets see what I got!!


Orly nail polish in ancient jade... The better of the two colours. The other one I could have got was black.
A Orly nail file.
We are faux eyelashes.
Collection 2000 cream puff gloss.
A trio sample of Aveda hair products (smooth infusion)
A sample of comfort zone good night cream and night complex
And a bonus Jing flowering tea. One of those flower teas that open up in a clear glass from Pho.

Box is worth: £28 (there abouts based on online prices and prices given)

Beautifully packaged like all beauty boxes

Magnetised flap lip box, so useful and beautiful to keep jewellery in.

The sticker at the front says "...Hope you love your beauty box"
And I do! very much so.