Friday 29 March 2013

Empties



Hi Everyone, so today I thought I would share with you some hair, make up , skin and body products I have used up, what I thought about them and if I would repurchase. 




Pro- Voke Touch of Silver Shampoo

I have been using this purple shampoo for years and its my favorite shampoo for my blonde hair, I use it twice a week ( anymore can damage your hair and give it purple, grey tones). You don't need to much of the product as it lathers up really well. This tone correcting shampoo leaves my hair looking really white blonde and removes any horrible yellow brassy toned, which is never a good look. For the £3.00 price tag it is a bargain.
Would you repurchase? Yes already have a new one in my shower. 

Aussie  3 minute miracle shine conditioner
 This conditioner left my hair feeling soft, conditioned and smelling really nice. However having blonde hair I didn't find it made my hair shine in anyway, but with my bleach blonde locks I should have expected that. 
I think this would work well on brunettes for achieving the shine result. 
Would you repurchase? No, purely because of my hair type

Body shop, banana shampoo and conditioner. 
This collection had a mixture of fruity scents and honey mixed with the banana, and I loved the scent it left on my hair after shampooing and conditioning. Now this is very strange for me because I hate the smell of bananas but I loved this. I think I preferred the shampoo to the conditioner, I just have tired  other conditions I prefer and found they left my hair softer. But I loved the shampoo, as did my fiancé, i noticed he kept using it :p 
Would you repurchase,?shampoo yes, conditioner no. 

L'oreal elvive crystal sparkling shampoo,
 I love loreal products, but this shampoo wasn't for me. It smelt good and I loved the idea of the pearl and micro crystal formulation but it just did nothing for my hair, it actually left it looking slightly greasy. Again I just thing this was wrong for my hair type, I am sure it would work better on darker hair. 
Would you repurchase? no 

Batiste dry shampoo
 I am a big fan of dry shampoo and go through bottles very quickly. Even on days when I have washed my hair I find myself reaching for it, my hair is quite limp and fine and I find a quick spray of dry shampoo really gives my hair body and volume. I have also found this using dry shampoo my helped my hair grow loads, because my hair gets greasy quite easily I had to wash it lots but now I just wash it three or four times a week, so its in much better condition. 
Would you repurchase? yes 

Bioderma Sensibio H20 - Micelle Solution

now i don't need to go into too much detail about bioderma every blogger and its blog has raved about this product. I got this travel sizes bottle for my last holiday and it was a really handy size, also really good if you just want to try it out. Until now getting hold of bioderma has been a nightmare I got some in Dubai, but other then that I have had to rely on ebay, but finally bioderma has reached the uk. I find this product really gentle and cleansing on my skin and has really calmed my imperfections, defiantly a favorite product in my skin care routine. 
Would you repurchase? yes already have but this time gone for the Sebium H2o. I will do review in a few weeks. 

 Grease lighting, spot treatment from lush
Now I have a love hate relationship with this product. On one hand I find it is really good for getting rid of spots quickly, but it leaves the skin around the spot really dry and flaky, bleughh . So I am torn. But I think for now I will be saying good bye to grease lightening and try and find other alternatives that don't dry up my skin. 
Would you repurchase? no not right now. 

Lush popcorn lip scrub
 I use this lip exfoliated every night and before apply lipstick, I find it leaves my lips really soft and smooth and removes any dry skin. I love the taste of the popcorn flavor too. 
Would you repurchase? yes, still have one from a Christmas gift set I got in my lush drawer, yes I have a lush drawer. 

Rimmel wake me up foundation
This is one of my favorite drug store foundations, I adore the glowing and dewy finish it leaves on my skin. It applies really easily and smells lovely, defiantly a staple foundation in my collection. 
Would you repurchase? yes 

Maybelline the falsies mascara
This again is my favorite drug store mascara. It really volumes and separates my lashes amazingly, I love it. 
Would you repurchase? yes I always by back ups on the famous boots 3 for 2 offer. 

Maybelline dream lumi touch highlighting concealer
I wouldn't use this as a concealer as its very bright but I love this as part of my contouring and highlighting  routine, I use this under my eyes, down my nose and around my forehead (sounds ridiculous I know), I love the bright finished look it gives me. It's very similar to YSL touch éclat but costs less then half the price. 
Would I repurchase? yes but right now I am using mac prep and prime for highlight, so after that's all gone. 

Benefit heart throb blush. 
This blush has lasted me ages, I love the light pink shade of this blush, its very wearable and lasts on my cheeks really well, but it's no longer available, so if anyone can recommend a good alternative please let me know. 
Would you repurchase? would if I could, boo 

 Aqua Mirabilis lush body butter, 
This did a really good job at scrubbing away dry skin and left my skin smooth, this does have a strong nutty almond smell which I really like but might not be to everyone's taste. My only negative about this body butter is it melts quite quickly, I had it in my shower and it shrunk loads, so store in a cool place. 
Would you purchase again? yes but not for a while trying out some soap and glory scrubs at the moment. 

Phewww, That was a long post, but I hope you found it useful and ejoyed reading, Hope you all hav a lovely Easter weekend, and get lots of Chocolate.

Thanks for reading

Emma Louise xx

Wednesday 27 March 2013

New Revlon Lip Butter shades






Juicy Papaya, Pink lemonade and Sorbet 


Hi ladies, I hope your all looking forward to the Easter weekend and tucking into some chocolate eggs, I keep reminding my fiancé how much I love malteaser bunnies so hopefully he has got the hint :p. 

Anyway  I will stop rambling, Spring is approaching and Revlon have launched four new lip butters as part of the Spring collection. The four shades are Wild watermelon, Juicy papaya, Pink lemonade and Sorbet.  I was so excited when I heard about these new shades, for anyone that doesn't know I am obsessed with the Revlon lip butters, they have been a staple in my make up bag ever since I got my hands on them. So I couldn't wait to try these new shades. 

Very briefly for anyone who hasn't tried a lip butter before, they are advertised as a buttery balm. I personally think they are more in between being a balm or a lipstick with a shiny gloss finish( dependant on the shade). I love how hydrating and moisturised these leave my lips and how wearable these little beauties are.....as you can tell I am a fan. 

Boots has the lip butters on the 3 for 2 offer, so of course I got 3, can you blame me? I decided to go for sorbet, pink Lemonade and juicy papaya. As lovely as the wild watermelon shade looked I decided against this one as I don't wear red shades very often, much more a pink girl. (although I do love the candy apple lip butter). 

My favourite shade is sorbet, I love the bright vibrant shade of bright pink. This product is so pigmented and the colour pay of is amazing. I find this with a lot of the darker shades of the lip butters. This colour is so pretty I defiantly think I will be reaching for this colour day and night through out the summer. 

The juicy papaya shade is a peachy coral colour, with pink tones. This shade is perfect for the Summer. the colour is build able, but not quite as bright as sorbet but, for anyone who doesn't like wearing bright, in your face colours but want to add a pop a colour to your every day look I would recommend this colour. 
Finally the pink lemonade shade is a soft pink colour. This has quite a sheer finish its much lighter then some of the other pink shades available, but I love this colour I think it's a great everyday colour for spring and summer, and will look great with a tan, if the sun ever shows its face here in the UK. I am fan of all three shades they are all very wearable but build able to create different looks and they give a glossy sheen and soft finish to my lips. 
Now I have to mention the packaging, I am sucker for good packaging and I think the packaging of these products is perfect. The quilted effect give it a very high end chanel look to the them, but the vibrant colours make them stand out and give them a feminine finish and look beautiful in any make up collection. My only negative with the lip butters is I find because of the buttery consistency they melt quite quickly, so not a product to be left in your car or bottom of hand bag. Saying that they are still my favourite affordable lip products at £7.99 each I have got my money worth out of all my lip butters. 
Finally just thought I would share with you my lip butter collection...yes I know it's a lot but I love them. My favourite shades is strawberry shortcake, it's the perfect every day pink colour and tutti fruitti  which is a lovely coral shade. I did also own creme brûlée but I wasn't a huge fan of this so gave it to my sister who is much more tanned then me ( I am very jealous of her natural glow). 

Pink lemonade, juicy papaya, sorbet, tutti fruitti, strawberry shortcake, cupcake, candy apple and sweet tart. 


What do you think of the lip butters? Have you tried the new shades. 

Thanks for reading 

Emma Louise xx


Sunday 24 March 2013

My Beauty Wish List

Hey guys. I hope you have all had a lovely weekend. I had planned to spend most my weekend blogging as I have long list of reviews and posts ready to type away but I was struck by a nasty migraine this weekend and spent all weekend in my onsie on sofa feeling very sorry for myself. 

So since I didnt have the energy to do my planned posts,  I thought instead I would share with you my 'Beauty Wish list', just to feed my blogging habit a little, and cheer myself up. I have an ever growing list on my I pad which is much longer then this. I always make note of products mentioned in blogs or on You tube videos I l would like to give a try, and seeing as I spend a fair amount of my free time reading blogs and watching You tube I am sure you can imagine the length of my list :p . So  I put this together to give you a sneak peak into some make up and beauty items I would love, some of them are very pricey, luxury and high end items so they may not be in my collection  till I can save up the pennies to purchase them, but a girl can dream. 

As you can probably see from my wish list I am a bit of a foundation junkie, I love trying new foundation. I have lots of foundations I enjoy using but I have never found that go to, holy grail type foundation. So I always on the look out. 

I made this list using Beauty sets, I had lots of fun playing about on this website, and can see it fast becoming my new blogging tool. 

Do you currently have a wish list? I would love to hear about some of the products you would like to try, or anything you can recommend?

Thanks for reading

Emma Louise xx 

Monday 18 March 2013

I 💖 Mollie



So it's becoming my Sunday night routine to get snuggled up on the sofa in my onsie with a hot chocolate ready for my favourite programme of the moment, Chasing the Saturday's. I have always been a fan of the Saturday's, you can't beat a good pop band when your in a dancing mood, and I am often getting a wiggle on to the Saturday's ( quite often in my car) and I am happy to admit it. 

I am not a huge tv fan normally, much more of a film geek, but I have loved 'Chasing the Saturdays', the girls appear to be very down to earth and come across very likeable and good fun, but the main reason I love the programme is I have a slight obsession with Mollie King, she is my fashion muse  (and girl crush) of the moment! I have loved seeing all the outfits she wears, I literally want to recreate them all. Her signature style is very femine and preppy, Mollie is often seen sporting a collared shirt teamed with shorts or a skirt. I would love how effortlessly stylish and chic she looks whether she is galammed up for an award ceremony, front row at fashion week or just come off a long haul flight.if I could have any celebrity wardrobe it would definitely be Mollie's, Victoria Beckham is a very close second. 


I couldn't do a Mollie King blog post and not mention that signature hair style and cut, it just goes to show how a new hair style can change your look, her middle parting shoulder length cut, styled in natural waves is such an improvement on her longer hair style.  I often try to recreate her hair style, but my hair is so fine it just doesn't have the volume to pull it off, or the Saturday's hair stylist to do it for me. 

Here are some of my personal outfits of Mollie's. 






So as my obsession with the Saturdays grows I now want to be in a girl band and go to LA, not to much to ask.......

Thanks for reading

Emma Louise xx 

Sunday 17 March 2013

BOURJOIS Magic Nail Polish Remover Review

After a girls night out my nails were looking a little bit worse for wear, so thought this was the perfect opportunity to give my BOURJOIS Magic Nail Polish Remover a try, I purchased this the other week when I did my huge Boots Haul. 




The product says it is an instant remover, and will remove nail varnish in one second per nail. So I was intrigued to give its go, I am very lazy with nail varnish remover so this seemed like a perfect solution. I would say the one second per nail statement is slightly misleading, I personally had to give my finger a swirl around the bottle for around 15 seconds, but after the 15 seconds I was pleasantly surprised to see all my nail varnish had disappeared. The remover contains nourishing sweet almond oil, and after using the product my nails did feel very soft, smooth and in good condition. 






The bright pink packaging also advertises that it contains a red fruit and vanilla fragrance, now I went full force and smelt the product, bad idea, I got a very strong smell of acetone straight up my nose. However I did smell a fruity fragrance on my nails after using product. 

Overall for the £4.99 price tag I would repurchase this product, it's great for girls like myself who are a little bit lazy in the nail department. It's really easy and simple to use, and even though It doesn't work for me in one second, it did work well overall. 

Have you tried this product, what did you think? 


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Thanks for reading 
Emma Louise xx 

Saturday 16 March 2013

Benefit....How To Look The Best At Everything

Hope your all having a lovely weekend? so today I had a trip to Benefit, I went to buy a new Hoola bronzer and of course couldn't resist browsing the stand. I love Benefit, I am always drawn in my the colourful, retro packaging and always been very impressed with my Benefit purchases.

So I was chatting away to the sales assistant,  who complimented me on my fake tan (Sienna X) so of course I was won over with her complements and ended up trying quite a few products. I told the sales assistant I had been thinking of trying out some of the face products, as I heard lots of good reviews on the foundation and concealer. The sales assistant suggested I try the 'How To Look The Best at Everything' palette. The palette included miniature versions of a range of complexion perfecters to give you a flawless finish. It sounded perfect, for £24.50 I could test the products before spending money on full sized versions, very clever marketing trick there by Benefit.



The palette looks so cute, shaped and designed to look like a book, it's very eye catching and will look lovely on your dresser or vanity. There are three colour choices, light, medium and dark. Now thanks to my tanning routine my skin tone is ever changing throughout the week, but I decided to go for medium as I would probably be able to use it on a daily basis.

Inside the palette, it puts the products in a step by step order on how to apply. Step 1 includes a 7.5ml PORE fessional, this balm is to be used before foundation as a primer to minimise the appearance of pores. Then step 2 is a smaller version of the 'Hello Flawless, Oxygen WOW' foundation, in the shade ' I'm so money, HONEY'. Step 3 is two shades of the 'Boi-ing' concealer. There a dark and light shade, so you can mix together to get your exact custom shade. Then finally step 4 is a 'Hello Flawless' powder in shade 'I'm cute as a bunny, HONEY', How cute are the shades of the products?

The palette also includes a tips and tricks manual on the best way to use each product, which is really handy if your not sure where to start. It also has a little mirror too, which is a really great size. So not only is this product great for sampling products it's a great size for travelling too.



I also got some Hoola bronzer my original reason for my trip to Benefit, I love this bronzer, again the packaging is so cute, but I love the shade it's not orange toned but still gives you a lovely glow. I am a big fan of contouring rather then all over bronzing and I find this bronzer contours really well alongside Nars Laguna bronzer, together they are my Holy Grail contouring products.



I also got a skin care sample for their new skin care line, Triple Performing. I went for the moisturiser. The sample is a sheer oil free facial lotion with SPF 15, which hydrates, protects and comforts the skin with an oil free light weight formula. So I will give this a try and let you know what I think.

So overall a good shopping trip to Benefit, as ever. Have you got any benefit recommendations?

Thanks for reading

Emma Louise xx

Splash Stain

I mentioned in my 'Boots Haul' post I would do a review on the new L'Oreal Glam shine Splash Stains  and after a week of trying and incorporating them into my daily make up routine here are my thoughts .......

I got very excited and carried away on my trip to boots, the Stain Splash was what I originally went shopping for (if you red my boots haul you will see I bought quite a bit more). Now as I am sure many of you are aware these lip glosses have been described as a dupe for the ever popular YSL Glossy Lip Stain. I can't say I am surprised L'Oreal are one the biggest Beauty groups and several years ago bought YSL, so with the huge success of the glossy stains I imagined and hoped it would only be a matter if time before L'Oreal brought a gloss of the same formulation at more affordable drug store price. The YSL glossy stains retail for £23.50, the Spalsh Stains come in with the much smaller price tag of £7.99 and they are currently on offer 3 for 2, they are a much cheaper alternative. So of course I bought 3, its was only good sense when they are on offer.


I probably spent around 20 minutes at the counter and I finally made a decision on what shades to go for, and ultimately decided on Marilyn, Eve and Romy, they are pink toned shades, as this is my go to colour. I did find there was not a massive colour range, I was instantly drawn to the bright pink Marilyn shade but struggled deciding on the other two, I was hoping there would be a coral tone colour. Hopefully they will release more in the future. 









I own one Glossy Stain, in Rose Pastel, and I have to admit the formula is very similar, if not identical. The Splash Stains is a wet biased consistency and applies very glossy and gel like, the colour is build-able and I apply a good few coats to get my desired colour, however just be aware the stains do have a slightly different finish once they have dried, so I was swatch in store on your hand a few layers and let it dry before you buy. 
Eve, Marilyn  and Romy 

Now I have to mention the packaging quickly, I am a big fan of the packaging, I know you should never judge a book by its cover so to speak but I do get drawn in my pretty packaging. I think the luxuary packaging of the Spash Stains looks amazing, and much more high end the £7.99 price tag.

Overall I love these Stains, as a lover of the YSL glossy stains me and my purse are very pleased there is a drug store budget version on offer. I love the finish of the stains and they last a really long time for a glossy and aren't too sticky, my only advice is the colour finish was different on me then on the packaging so as I said I would advise swatching and trying the product in store, swatch a few layers and let it dry before you decide.
My favourite stain, Eve 

Have you tried the L'Oreal Splash Stains, what do you think?

Thanks for reading

Emma Louise x


Wednesday 13 March 2013

Crown brushes

I am sure you have all heard the saying.....An artist is only as good as his tools, and I think applying make up is no different to any art form. Good tools or brushes are key to creating a flawless look and finish. My personal favourite brushes are real techniques and mac, and I have a good selection from both collections. However I have recently been craving some new eye shadow brushes. I am a big fan of a smoked out eye look and anyone else who opts for this look will now the key is to blend, blend, blend...and this requires a number of clean blending brushes.

So I did some research into low budget brushes, but still of a good quality and did the required job, this is when I stumbled upon Crown brushes, now i had heard some talk and reviews of Crown brushes, and they appeared to be a popular brush amount make up artists and beauty gurus who had lots of good things to say about these brush collections, so I thought they were worth a try.
Now I have to admit it being the pink lover I am I got totally drawn in by the perfectly pink brush range and when I saw how cheap they were I could resist giving them a try. So I got slightly carried away and ended up with 9 brushes in my basket, all eye shadow brushes. I purchased quite a few blending brushes in a selection of size and form and my total basket came to £18.95, which in my opinion for 9 brushes is a steal, especially when one Mac 217 brush is around £17.


http://www.crownbrush.co.uk/brushes/brush-ranges/perfectly-pink.html


Now I wasn't sure what to expect with these brushes, I am a firm believer in 'you get what you pay for' so I have to admit my hopes were not particularly high. When my brushes arrived I was defienetley proved wrong, the quality and texture of the brushes are a very high standard and I have been pleasantly surprised. My favourite brushes I bought are the large  PP13 blending brush ( and yes i bought 3) and the PP15 oval fluff the bristles are soft and created the smoked out eye shadow look perfectly.
PP13 Blending Brush, £2.69
PP15 Oval Fluff, £2.49 
 This isn't to say my more high end models will be left to collect dust I do still love them, but for a fraction of the price I will defiantly be purchasing some more from the crown brushes collection in the future they have done an amazing job helping me create my favourite neutral smoked out eye look. I would defiantly recommend these brushes if your looks for good quality brushes that won't cost you a fortune. 
PP20 Angle Brow, £2.49 


PP18 Round Crease £2.29


PP26 Talkon Sqaure £2.39



PP14  Deluxe Oval  £2,99



Have you tried crown brushes, what do you think? Or do you know another brush collection I should give a try.

Thanks for reading
Emma Louise x

Sunday 10 March 2013

Boots Haul



So if you haven't already guessed by the title...I went shopping to Boots this weekend. I had been eyeing up some high street/ drug store make up so was ready for a Boots splurge. Now being the responsible adult I am, I am quite strict with myself , because Boots always have some kind offer on I only allow myself  to buy products when they are on offer, make up offers are usually 3 for 2 or buy one get one half price.
Now there is no way of sugar coating it, i did my usual and spent too much, but I made a saving of £30.45 with all the products on offer, so i have managed to convince myself I actually saved money. I have a way if justifying my spending habits.So here is a quick look at what I bought. Once I have used the products more I will do some in depth reviews and let you know what I think of them.
Now here is what I originally went shopping for, the L'Oreal Glam Shine Stain Splash. I had read  numerous reviews on these new lip stains and they have been described as a dupe for the YSL glossy stains, which I love but, only own one as I can't bring myself to pay that much money for a lip stain. So I couldn't wait to get my hands on these little beauties. The only negative was the colour range, lots of the colours were quite similar or two orange toned for my skin but, I do love the colours I did select. These were £7.99 each and were in a buy 3 for 2 offer, so of course I got 3, got to add I think the packaging is amazing and much more high end then the £7.99 price tag.

The next products I picked up were from the Revlon Nearly Naked range. Again I have heard a lot of good reviews about this range, and I was in the market fora light coverage foundation as my skin is the best it's been in years ( I will do a skin care post soon and revel all my skin care secrets). I got the colour shell for the foundation and light in the powder. The foundation was £8.99 and the compact powder was £6.99 but, the revlon offer was buy one get one half price. 



Sticking with Revelon I bought 3 of the Revlon, just bitten kissable lip stain. Now I messed up a little here and bought 3 so I didn't get the full potential of the Revelon offer, quite annoyed with myself for this little slip up. Anyway the lip stains are £7.99 and has a really good colour selection. I went for darling a lilac shade, love sick a bright pink, fuchsia and finally cherish a baby pink shade. I can't wait to try these, I switched them last night and loved all three colours. 




Then I moved over to Maybelline who also had 3 for 2 on products, and yes I got slightly carried away over here at the Maybelline station. I picked up 5, yes 5 of the colour tattoos. I had used up the back to bronze one I bought in the states as I used it nearly every day. I love the colour tattoos because you can you them as a base colour or as you full eye shadow and blend it out, and for £4.99 they are a total bargain. 



Then I bought myself  two of the falsies mascara which is amazing, I am sure I don't need to explain about this product as its been raved about in the blogging and beauty world, but I do love it a d use it all the time as it really gives my lashes volume and length. So I decided to stock up while they were on offer. 

Next I bought the Bourjoris magic nail polish remover which cost £4.99. I have to admit this was an impulse buy, I was intrigued to see if the product did as it said. Also I am very lazy with nail polish removal so seemed like a good idea. Will let you know what I think. I bought two Essie  nail polishes, both were light nude colours, Figi and Ballett slipper. 

Finally I stocked up on some soap and glory products, again these were 3 for 2, I haven't used any of these yet but will blog my thoughts in a few weeks, but can I just say, omg sugar crush is possibly the most amazing smelling product ever, it's sugary and fruity and smalls Devine and very yummy, hence why I bought two.  Can't wait to try. 

So I think that's everything from my make up splurge I will let you know what I think about all the different products very soon. I had wanted some back up Rimmel wake me up foundation but there. Was no offs on Rimmel so I am going to be very good and wait. 

Thanks for reading

Emma Louise x