NOTD: Barry M Berry Ice

The perfect summer nail varnish?

Barry M, We have a winner!

Laura xxx

When you just pop in for one thing...

I have never, ever managed to "pop" into Superdrug and leave with just what I went in for...I think it's an illness.

First to sneak into my bag was Barry M Berry Ice nail varnish. It's a lovely pale lilac with pale pink undertones and it makes it very easy to wear. I've played with it a little bit and I've found I like it best with one coat, as it gives a subtle sheen of gorgeous soft lilac.

I also gave into my sheep instinct and bought a Sleek Pout Polish in Electro Peach. I didn't really look at the colour when I dropped it in my basket as I'd seen it so many bloggers lips already, and I was quite shocked when I got it back home and saw it's a lot more red than I thought. It leaves a subtle glossy wash of pinky red and it's really lovely for the daytime.

I've been craving a new cheaper mascara for a while as they're my guilty make up pleasure so I decided to try the new Maybelline Lash Stiletto Voluptuous. I've used it once and i'm still making my mind up, so stay tuned.

Lastly I decided to bite the bullet and try the L'Oreal Renewal Lash Serum, I've heard so many mixed reviews, I'll never know under I try, so I'll keep you posted!!

Do you have any control when you're in a chemist?!!

Laura

xxxx

Saturday's Sunny Face/Outfit

Whilst everyone else was sensibly soaking up the summer, me and my lovely friend decided to hit the shops...

What can I say, I'm committed to the cause!

Today's keyword is: Minimal!!

FACE: MAC MSF Natural

Benefit It Stick

Elf Warm Bronze

MAC Style

EYES: MAC Bare Study Paint Pot

MAC Orb e/s

Revlon Fabulash

LIPS: NARS Barbarella

OUTFIT...

Excuse my hunched over pose, have you ever tried getting a decent full length shot by yourself?!

Sandals - Next

Leggings- Topshop

Top- Primark/H&M

Ring: Antique...you can't see it!

Close Up:

Right, Over & Out...I'm off to go and join the masses and sun myself in the garden!

Laura xxx

Bright Spark Beauty Tips: Green Tea

When I'm not worshipping at the church of the dreaded Diet Coke, my drink of choice is Green Tea.

Now I know the benefits that Green Tea does from the inside out, but it got me thinking about its other uses.

After absolutely blasting my face with the Clinique 3 Step System, I was looking for a more natural alternative.

I don't think this could be anymore natural!

Green Tea is fantastic for reducing redness and puffiness in your skin, so I simply make a cup of the green stuff as usual, then stick in the fridge and leave it over night. In the morning when it's cooled down nicely I stick a couple of ice cubes and cucumber slices in there and soak them. I then use the cucumber slices on my eyes and soak two cotton wool pads in the tea and swipe it over my face.

It's amazingly refreshing and is 100% natural, could you ask for anything more?!

(Heads Up: This is bliss if you've hit the old vino the night before!!)

Do you have natural remedies you swear by?!

Laura xxx

Gormless FOTD

Cue Gormless Face...Hi Laura!

FACE: Smidge of Nars Sheer Glow in Mont Blanc

MAC MSF Natural Swept over Nose and Chin

Illamasqua Rude Cream Blush

EYES: NARS Nepal e/s

MAC Phloof!

MUFE Smoky Lash Mascara

MAC Feline Kohl Power

Lips: YSL Rouge Volupte No2 Sensual Silk

Revlon Peach Petal Lipgloss

I'm also OBSESSED with the necklace I'm wearing in this photo, I got it from Topshop and I love it, the end.

Right, Over & Out, I'm going to go and learn how to smile with my eyes haha...

xxx

Getting Some Beauty Sleep...

I've made my way through a plethora of high end night creams & drugstore cheapys recently, trying to find one to suit. The latest victim in my beauty sleep mission is L'Oreal Dermo-Genesis Cellular Youth Nurturing Intensive Night Cream...Catchy!

I have actually tried this before when I was given a sample sometime during my university years and I remember back then really enjoying it.

First of all its feels like more a gel than a cream, I really cannot stand ridiculously heavy, creamy, greasy night creams, I like my skin to breath!!

I'm not against the smell of the product too, it smells clean and refreshing. Thumbs up!

When applied it almost feels like a gel mask for a couple of seconds until it sinks in, It feels like it's really working...or is that just me haha.

Now for the most curious things about this little blue bottle. Whilst I have noticed some improvement in my skin, it feels plumper and less "grey", I've also noticed that it seems to halt any dreaded lurkers in their tracks...I kid you not!

I'm not sure whether it's the hyaluronic acid or some other secret ingredients but it really does appear to do the business.

RRP: £15.99

I bought this with my own hard earned pennies, just to let you know!

I'm more than impressed with this at the moment, so I'll have to see how it pans out over a longer period of time, but overall gold stars all around!

Lots of Love, Laura xxxx

Products Up Close: NARS Palette Douceurs de Paris.

I splashed out on this little palette when I had a little bit of birthday money to spend, and I can honestly say I've used it pretty much everyday for a month now.

Enter the NARS "Pleasures of Paris" palette.

(looking lovely and smudged!)

This pretty palette comes with six gorgeous neutral shades, so naturally it's right up my street.

Top Row: Nepal, Violetta, Demon Lover.

Bottom Row: Fez, Abyssinia, Cordura.

The hint of purple in the palette really makes it worth it as it saves it from being a straightforward selection of neutral hues.

I'm personally in love with Nepal and Demon Lover.

The only thing I would say is some of the shades included in this palette are rediculously "dupable", I've probably got atleast three of these shades in alteast two different palettes, so keep that in mind.

Swatch time....

Top Row: Nepal, Violetta, Demon Lover, Fez

Bottom Row: Abyssinia, Cordura.

The two matte shades are amazingly pigmented and feel incredibly soft.

This has become the ultimate travel palette as it has everything I need, the mirror is always useful too although it's not pictured as I didn't want to deal with rediculous flashback!

Have you tried any NARS palettes?

Lots of Love Laura xxx

p.s LET ME KNOW, do you find these "close up" posts useful??

♥

Revlon Colourburst...Yummy

I decided to dash into Boots today to grab a few boring bits and bobs, and I wandered - and subsequently halted - at the Revlon stand when I spotted the new Colourburst lipsticks all set up like little quilted lipstick soldiers!

I spent a good 15 minutes playing with all of the colours (which, I may add were all new and shiny, which thrilled the saddo in me) and decided I had to atleast pick up one...so I picked up two.

I decided upon one typical safe shade, 035 Blush, and a complete impulse, 080 Coral.

 

Firstly, I'll just say how bloody gorgeous is the packaging?? I think it's the most attractive "drugstore" lipstick I've ever come across, I'm in love with the little Revlon stamp on the actual lipstick too, detail aimed to impress!

Cue the hastily applied lip swatches...

Blush

This is so close to my lip colour yet it adds a glossy depth to them, for the days when I just want a hint of something this will be lovely. It reminds me a lot of Shy Girl, yet it has more of a brown base, where Shy Girl is a lot more orange.

Even though I've just bought another nude, I've feeling quite 'over nuded' recently. This probably explains this beauty...

Coral

I'm in love with this colour, less of a Coral, more of a true yellow red. I'm very fussy about red lipstick as I'm always aware that the wrong shade of red can make me feel like my mother. It's the most young, wearable red I think I've come across recently, I wouldn't be too afraid to wear this out in the day, infact I'm wearing it now and I'm going to sport this when I go to Waitrose in a minute!

A quiet word about the consistancy of Colourburst, they're creamy and glossy to the max, therefore you do a lose a little bit of pigmentation along the way, each of the above took about 2-3 swipes to achieve the colour above but it's a comprimise I'm willing to take.

And one more thing...

Does anybody know anything about the colour range that they've released in the UK compared to the US range? I was looking for the much talked about Soft Nude and it was nowhere to be seen, annoyed.

Right, as It was 3 for 2 in Boots when I bought these, I thought I may aswell get something for free so I finally caved and bought Peach Petal from Revlon.

It's a pretty, unoffensive gloss that's strikes the balance between natural and nude.

Hello dodgy camera, Peach Petal.

I've heard lots of things about these glosses, and so far I like it. I'm not in love with it as I think it's too middle of the road to go gaga over, but if it's free, whose complaining??

Over & Out

Laura xxx

FOTD: Red Lips

Case in point: Revlon Colourburst Lipcolour in Coral.

♥

Rest of face is very simple...

- NARS Sheer Glow in Mont Blanc

-MAC MSF Natural in Light

-MAC Springsheen

-NARS Fez e/s

-Maybelline Lash Stiletto

-Teeny bit of Barry M Lipgloss in No.5 Bubblegum (I got carried away!)

I forgot to whack on some concealer under my eyes this morning, hence why I look pretty tired!

One more thing...IN LOVE with the MAC 130 brush to apply Sheer Glow with, so airbrushed its rediculous!

Laura xxx

Every Cloud Nine Has A Silver Lining...

Back in April my beloved GHD straighteners died a death, I decided this was a blessing in disguise.

If I was truthful, I was frazzling my hair. I have naturally curly hair and it stayed very much at bay since I discovered the wonders of straighteners when I was 16.

(I recently found my first pair of remington straighteners and they resembled an actual steam iron...you had to fill them up with water!!)

To get to the point, I had a hair epiphany and decided high heat is not the way to go if you want gorgeous long hair.

You don't need excessive heat to achieve wonderful style.

In order to avoid to dreaded phrasing "The lovely people at..." or "so and so were extremely generous" I'll just put it out there that yes, I was sent these gratis but that really isn't a factor here. I would not hesitate on spending my own money on these.

The reason? I think below speaks for itself!

I was asked if i'd like to recreate a Cloud Nine summer style, and I chose beach waves to try on the guinea pig (Hannah).

The main plus that screams out to me on Cloud Nine Iron's is the temperature gauge. You can have it as low as 100C or as high as 230C. I achieved this beautiful wave look with 100C of heat, so much better than the standard temperature on a GHD styler which stands at the scorching 220C mark.

They're sleek and very similar in style to the GHD, not suprising as they were created by the original creators of the famous iron.

I'm in love with turquoise and black packaging too.

But back to the hair...

I'm not known for my skills in the with old irons, but this was stupidly easy to achieve. Take two inch sections of hair and wrap it round the iron, then simply roll it through the hair as tight or loose as you like. I did it fairly loosely as directed on the video.

If you want to recreate this look, you can find it here in this wonderful how to. 

The only negative I have about the Cloud Nine Iron is that if you're not careful it can deliver a nasty nip to your hand from the hinge of the straightener, Beware!!

In terms of pricing, these retail at £130, a tenner more than their GHD cousins, but for long term investment, I think it's a real no brainer.

Otherwise, less heat is truely more style. I think I just found a new product i'll be ever faithful to!

If you want to check them out.

http://www.cloudninehair.com/

www.twitter.com/cloudninec9

I just noticed if you order a pair of Cloud Nine Irons now you can snap up a bottle of St Tropez, what a lovely summer treat!!!

One last thing, the original image, how gorgeous!

Love, Laura xxx

May Favourites

Although this is a little late, here are my May favourites!

- Xen-Tan Gradual Tanner

- MAC Creme Cup Lipstick

- NARS Barbarella Lipstick

- (Very Dirty) MAC 130 Brush

- NARS Monoi Body Glow II

I appear to have become very habitual with my make up routine lately; weather, time and lack of experimentation haven't left much room for new found favourites.

The only thing I've been tending to change is my lip products, and Creme Cup & Barbarella have been my favourite two this month. Creme Cup is a beautiful fleshy pink, whilst Barabarella is a wonderful peach toned nude, perfect for the summer monthes!

As we go along with the summer theme, Xen-Tan has become an essential in my routine. It's simple to do and is the easiest tan I've ever used, it deserves a gold star!

In a previous post I've already waxed lyrical about the MAC 130, I used it just before I took this picture so it's sporting a lovely dirty look! It just blends perfectly and I'm not sure how I coped without it...dramatic?

My last favourite was a complete surprise as I didn't expect to like it at all, I got it free with a recent NARS order, and I only used it when I couldn't see my body butter and this was the closest thing to hand. Long story short, I'm addicted. It feels so luxurious when you apply it, yet isn't greasy and sinks into the skin leaving a gorgeous sheen and leaves your skin super soft. I'm dreading running out of this, because I don't know if I can bring myself to pay £43.00 for more!!

What products are you loving this month?

Laura xxx