Haul

Hey everyone!

Sorry I've been a bit absent on the old blogging front this week, I've been a bit poorly the last few days so have pretty much bed bound! I went into Manchester yesterday and picked up a few things so thought I'd show you what I got and my initial thoughts! I also received my Garnier Ultralift sample this week in the post, and I also sent off for some samples from a company called LN girls, who sell some really lovely mineral make up!

So first things first, I went into Boots yesterday in search of a new foundation! I've heard some really good things about the Revlon Colour Stay foundation, so headed to Revlon where they had a 3 for 2 offer on all of their products! I ended up picking up the Photo Ready foundation, and I have also read quite a bit about this particular product and was really intrigued to see what it was actually like.

Now some bloggers have expressed their concern about this foundation as it has light reflecting particles in it, so in theory you should have this 'air brushed' finish in photographs. I've got to say it did make me laugh reading about concerns that you would end up looking like a Cullen from Twilight with a really shimmery and glittery finish - this is not how it works lol, it definitely does has a slight shimmer to the finish but in my opinion it doesn't make your skin look shiny or oily really, especially if you set it with a powder. The foundation is supposed to be 'complete coverage', I don't know that it provides the best coverage I've ever had - I'd say its more medium coverage but in fairness I do have quite a few blemishes at the minute so maybe I'll have a different opinion when my skin clears up a bit! I do really like this foundation so far, mine is in the shade Vanilla 002 and it is quite pale really but it is a great colour match and I'm really pleased with the product so far! I do definitely want to try the Colour Stay foundation, so I might pick that up another time!

On to the next... as there was a 3 for 2 offer on Revlon products, I decided to pick up the new 'Just Bitten' lip stain in Flame, and also the new scented nail polish in Bubble Gum 360. I really liked the look of the lip stains, there are quite a few different colours in the collection which is great but I picked up the orange-red one, and I really love the colour! It's very bright but its actually a lot more wearable than I would say a lip stick would be in this same colour. I do like the product a lot, however at the minute I find the stain itself a little drying on my lips (I have majorly dry skin on lips at the minute though thanks to my cold :( ) and I think the balm isn't the most hydrating or moisturising balm, and I have found that a layer of clear Vasaline works much better for me! The staying power of this product is actually incredible, I applied the product after I bought it to try it out (which was yesterday around 2pm), and actually woke up this morning with the colour still on my lips (: I have found that it doesn't transfer, say to drink cups, my pillow lol or anything else really - the product really absorbs onto the lip which is great. So another really lovely Revlon product, and I would definitely be interested in trying out the other colours!

Just Bitten in Flame

Final product... the new nail varnishes! Now I currently have a really bad cold, and couldn't even smell my Aussie shampoo and conditioner in the shower this morning - so as you can imagine I can't currently smell this product which is a shame, but my mum and dad and friend have all smelled it on my behalf lol :) so it definitely has a scent to it - I just can't confirm it for you right now :) so i shall talk about the other aspects of the product! The colour I chose is Bubblegum and it's a lovely fuchsia pink, it applies really nicely and its very opaque only needing one coat, although I did apply two! I can't really comment on staying power as yet, but I do find on my nails they tend to reject most nail products and chip after a few hours, even with a top and base coat! I applied this Revlon nail varnish, with neither a top or base coat and it hasn't chipped as yet which is a good sign for me!

All in all, I'm really happy with these products that I picked up and might pop back to Boots before the 3 for 2 offer goes off, and pick up some more!

Just to quickly mention some samples I requested from LN girls, this is a company that specialises in organic mineral make up and their business card says "Natural Beauty for youthful skin. All skin types LOVE IT. Sensitive, oily, acne and allergy prone skins ADORE IT. Cherish your skin and avoid those NASTIES (dyes, talcs, fillers and chemical preservatives)."

You can go onto their website which I will link here, and order some of their samples for yourself! I think you can try their mineral foundations as well, but I just sampled two of their eye shadows - and I've got to say I'm really impressed. Firstly that they send out samples, a very generous amount of the product as well ,in a small pot so really handy for throwing in your bag for touch ups! The two colours I received are 'Drama Queen', which is a lovely deep purple and 'Sugar Palace' which is a shimmery golden rosy-pink! Being honest, pink or purple would not normally be colours I would choose for my eyes - I'm more of a neutral browns girl - but I wore Sugar Palace last night, and it looked so lovely!

Sugar Palace on the left, and Drama Queen on the right!

I'm really happy with these samples and would definitely would be interested in trying out their other eye shadows, which normally retail at £7.88 - so they aren't super cheap but I think they are worth it to be honest, the pigmentation is good and the colours are so pretty.

Hope you enjoyed this post (:

Hannah Elizabeth xx

ELF

Hey everyone!

I thought I'd do a post on the cosmetics company ELF, I started buying their products around two months ago now and I'm totally hooked! I first heard of the company on YouTube with some of the beauty guru's talking about ELF products so I thought I'd place an order and see what I thought!

One thing I really love about ELF is that they are so generous and regularly have great offers on, for example 20% off the whole site, free delivery or free products if you order over £10. Considering how inexpensive ELFs products are, I don't think think I need an excuse to place an order with them but it really is a great incentive - I once placed an order and received a 32 pc eyeshadow palette for free, when they normally cost £9!

So anyway... into my favourite products.

This was one of the first products I ordered, its the Eyebrow Kit from the Studio Line and is £3.50. I've only ever tried eyebrow pencils before so I was really excited to try out this duo set with the eyebrow wax to define and shape my brows and then the powder to fill them in and to set them. 

I have literally used this every day since I've had it, and there is still loads of the product left! My eyebrows are quite a strange colour in a way, that they don't match my natural hair colour and are much darker, so I'm always really conscious of eyebrow products that enhance this and darken them too much, but this eyebrow kit is perfect for me!

The next product I love is the Natural Lash Kit Falsh Lashes in black (£1.50). I don't often wear false lashes as I think they can sometimes be a bit too dramatic, but the title kind of drew me in so I thought I'd try them out! I think using the word natural is inaccurate as they are really full and long, but I do actually really like them! I've used them twice now, and have ordered another set. I don't like the eyelash glue that comes with them, and its a really small tube, but I just used my eyelure glue instead and they look really good! 

Like I said, I don't wear falsh lashes often and do sometimes struggle to apply them, but I found these no different from any other brand I have previously tried and once they were on they lasted all night!

Another product I've tried and loved, is the Candid Coral Blush from the Studio Line (£3.50). I've really started getting into blusher and have been looking to try out a few of these blushes from the studio line for a while! This particular one is really highly pigmented but has a lovely natural look when applied on the apples of your cheeks.

I really want to try out Pink Passion and Peachy Keen so will have to get them ordered and do a review!

The next product that I really love is the Black Cream Eyeliner from the Studio Line (£3.50). This product is always sold out so I absolutely rushed to order it when I saw it was in stock. I've never tried a cream or gel eyeliner before, I usually wear a pencil or the eye liners that have a felt tip style applicator, but I love this product.This eyeliner is so opaque, as you can see in the photograph it is a really true black and that is how it looks on application. It stays on well throughout the day, maybe a touch up if you were going out at night time would be required but its a really good eyeliner!

The small angled brush is great too, because its angled it allows you to get really close to the lash line and it helps to glide the product along the lid!

The final product I want to talk about is the luscious liquid lipstick in perfect pink. The colour is really nice and the product itself is glossy and moisturising without being sticky, but I think calling it a lipstick is a little bit inaccurate. Not that the naming matters too much, because it's still a great product - and it also smells like mint which I like! 

 love how they look they are all glowing :)

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed reading about my favourite ELF products and I'd love to hear what everyone else's favourites are!

Hannah Elizabeth

MUA and 2True Review

Hello again! I received my delivery from Superdrug yesterday and have tried the products out in  my make up routine twice now so thought I'd do a quick review and tell you what I thought of the products! I mentioned in my previous MUA review that I'd ordered two new lipsticks and a new eye dust so I guess I'll jump in and start with them!

I ordered shades 5 and 9, and thought they would be neutral shades from what I could see on the website! This is a lesson I really should learn about ordering make up online because the product rarely looks like the photographed version, and the true colours of the two lipsticks are a really sheer and shimmery baby pink and also a bronze colour.

The two new lipsticks are on the right of the photograph below and also the swatches are the two middle colours. The other two lipsticks are the ones that I have already reviewed but thought I'd include them for a comparison!

Top row: Shade 12 and 5

Bottom row: Shade 4 and 9

Swatch: 12, 9, 5, 4

The consistency of these lipsticks is quite sheer, and when applied they feel more like a gloss than a matte lipstick.  I don't think I'll wear Shade 9 because I don't think darker brown or bronze lip products really suit my skin tone and I prefer warmer reds, pinks or corals on my lips! I do quite like Shade 5 - but like I said it's more like a gloss than a lipstick but it's quite a pretty colour and it does feel moisturising on the lips rather than drying as some lipsticks can feel.

I also ordered another eye dust, which I raved about in my last review! I've used the brown colour a couple of times since my last post and had loads of complements about it when I wore it, one thing I would say is that it's pretty much essential to wear a primer with this eye dust. It's a really loose product and the primer really helps it to stay in place and not smudge throughout the day!

top: shade 5

bottom: shade 4

I ordered Shade 4 this time, which is more of an olive green colour and again its such a beautiful product! I've applied Shade 5 as well next to it so you can compare the colours. I guess shade 4 is more wearable in the day time because its a lighter colour but the colour can be built up for a more dramatic evening look.

I cannot praise this product enough, the next time I'm passing a Superdrug I'm going to pop in and pick up the other shades in the collection!

I also ordered some 2true products, they were on 3 for 2 and I'd been wanting to try the bronzer since 'Sprinkle of Glitter' here on blogspot has mentioned it a few times in her posts as being a really good quality bronzer! I also ordered a matte foundation and 3 in 1 concealer to try out!

I really do like this bronzer, its really matte there is no shimmer in it at all which can sometimes put me off applying bronzer! But... after I was doing my make up this morning and used the bronzer IT HAS GONE MISSING =( I literally have no clue where it has gone, I've checked in all my make up storage, under my bed and everywhere else - and trust me my room is really small so it can't have gone far! So I'm a bit gutted for the minute but fingers crossed it will turn up!

Anyway... on with the review.

It looks quite dark in its case however you only need a really small amount of the product and a light hand to get that beautiful bronzed sun kissed look - so I can see this product (if i find it) lasting me a very long time!

The other two products are a foundation and concealer. I'm quite new to using concealer as it was never a product I fancied trying or experimenting with, but I've got the Benefit stick concealer and quite like that so thought I'd try out a wand applicator version and see how I got on! I find this product is great for under eye dark circles, but so far I've found that it seems to draw attention to blemishes rather than conceal them - which is never good. I think this is mainly because the blemishes I have are quite dry and then applying a creamey concealer on top just seems to highlight the area.

The foundation is okay, I have quite pale skin and so went for the lightest shade - there are four shades in total - but still found this to be a little dark for my skin. It seems to apply quite nicely but after a while I feel that it kind of sticks to dryer parts of my face, again highlighting imperfections in my skin - not good!! I'm gonna try mixing in a little tinted moisturiser to see how I get on with that, or maybe wait till my skins cleared up a bit and try again!

If any of you have tried any of the 2true or MUA products I've mentioned, or can recommend any others I'd love to hear so please leave a comment and thanks for checking out my blog!

Hannah Elizabeth

Garnier Ultralift Challenge!!

Garnier have launched a nationwide campaign inviting consumers to try out their Garnier Ultralift Day Cream. With the very lovely Davina McCall fronting the campaign, they are inviting consumers to sample their anti-aging day cream over a 14 day period and compare the daily results to their Wrinkle Reader.

 

Garnier describe the UltraLift Wrinkle Reader as a "self evaluation tool you can use with UltraLift day to score your wrinkles and see the results for yourself". As you can see from the picture below, it helps you to track the reduction in the appearance of crows feet around the eye area.

 

Garnier propose that this cream immediately leaves skin feeling smoother and reduces the appearance of wrinkles. It is a triple action formula that provides:

1. Immediate hydration

2. Anti-wrinkle action

3. Firming action

So... the idea is that you try this anti-aging cream out for 14 days and then report the results back to Garnier, they then enter you into a competition to win a luxury pampering treatment as an added bonus!

I don't currently have any problems with lines or wrinkles but I think it's so important to take a preventative approach to anti-aging treatments as appose to a cure, when its potentially too late! I'm going to order a sample kit for my mum too and see how she gets on with the product! 

As the sample is free you have nothing to lose and it's a great opportunity to test out this product over a period of two weeks!

You can sign up here: http://www.ultraliftchallenge.co.uk/index.html 

Hope you enjoy and let me know if you sign up!

Hannah Elizabeth

Favourite Products

Thought I'd do a quick post on a few products I'm really enjoying at the moment! I'm still waiting for my Superdrug delivery to do a review on the new MUA products that I ordered, but I will do one when I can!

Firstly I ordered a few things from the Body Shop online, I guess it's becoming increasingly obvious of my obsession with online shopping! I received an email about an offer where you got a very generous 50% off all items on the website, so I took the opportunity to try a few things out and also ordered a product that I have used before and really loved.

I ordered one of The Body Shop's best selling products, the ever popular body butter in 'Moringa' and also picked up the accompanying body scrub. I used both of these products today and you can tell instantly why they are a bestseller, the scent is really fresh and floral and it lasts all day long! I think the consistency of this particular body butter is a little different from the others I have previously tried, such as the 'Cocoa Butter' version, I found it to be a little creamier which actually makes it easier to apply and absorb into your skin. The body scrub is a product I have never tried before, but I'm really happy I ordered it - it's a great exfoliating product and a small amount goes a long way, leaving skin feeling really smooth and smelling beautiful!!

Another product I was interested in purchasing was some kind of intensive treatment for the dry skin on my feet, and decided to order the peppermint intensive foot rescue. This product is amazing!! I've been using this product by applying it before I get into bed and popping a pair of socks on and just leaving the product to work its magic! Once again, only a small amount of the product is necessary to get the coverage you want, and its also really cooling - my feet do tend to get really warm and quite red when I've been stood up a lot during the day, so this works a treat as a cooling treatment as well! Oh and how could I forget, the most amazing thing about this product is the smell! I didn't expect such a nice scent from a foot cream and have been kind of disappointed by peppermint products in the past but definitely not this time!

The final product is hair care, and I actually picked this up in my local Tesco but you can get Aussie products in loads of different stores! Its the lusciously light 3 minute miracle deep conditioner, I'm pretty sure that the lusciously light range is new but do correct me if I'm wrong! I have tried the 3 minute miracle conditioners before and Aussie hair care is one of my favourites as it is inexpensive but leaves your hair looking really healthy and smelling amazing! I have tried this as a 3 minute treatment but also left it in overnight on one occasion for a really intensive treatment. In all honesty I think the '3 minute' advertising is spot on - I noticed no relationship really in the amount of time I left the product on and the condition of my hair! I think it works so well as a quick and easy hair mask, and does really great things for the condition of my dry hair!

Just thought I'd share my opinion on a few products that I've been really enjoying the last couple of weeks! Let me know what you think if you have tried any of them or any other products you would recommend!

Hannah Elizabeth

MUA review

While I'm on a roll I thought I'd get another post done! This is a review of some products that I ordered from Superdrug last week, and they arrived today which I always get too excited over when I get things delivered from online!

MUA is a brand that is sold exclusively at Superdrug here in the UK, all products are £1 and they currently have a range of over 100 different lip products, eye shadows and liners, nail varnishes and mascaras!

So I thought I'd give a few of their products a go! I'm currently really loving wearing lipstick so I ordered two lipsticks and also an eye dust in a really beautiful bronze colour!

I'll start off with talking about the two lipsticks I ordered, they are in Shade 4 and Shade 12 - I think they have 12 different colours in their lipstick range just if you wanted to know! One small problem I have to begin with is that they don't have names, not a major problem but I do like to see what kinds of creative names companies come up with for their products!! But like I said - not a major problem at all.

Shade 4 is a baby pink colour that looks quite matte in the stick, but when you apply it really is quite sheer and you don't get a great colour payoff! But... for £1 you really cannot complain, plus it feels quite moisturising on your lips and also smells great!

Shade 12 is a much darker pink colour, which as you can see in the picture is really quite shimmery! It's not a colour I would normally go for as it looks so sparkly on the stick but on application its more the colour that stands out and not the glitter! One thing I would say is that it feels a bit.. grainy?.. in that you can feel the glitter particles on your lips so it feels a bit rough in texture!

Here are some swatches anyway...

Left: Shade 4

Right: Shade 12

The next product I ordered is from MUAs eye dust collection, again they do not name any of their products, and they currently have six different shades in this collection. I picked up shade number 5, its on the far right in the picture below (the two other swatches you can see are the lipsticks!!).



This product is so beautiful, it is so highly pigmented and it also blends really well. I'm not a massive fan of eyeshadows, mainly because I haven't tried that many, but this is definitely a product I would use to create a really pretty smokey eye.

Another thing I really like about this product is the design of the little pot it comes in, obviously as this is such a loose product it can be quite messy to apply, but this little pot has a small hole just large enough to dip your eyeshadow brush into which prevents the rest of the product spilling! And for £1 I think it's really great that MUA have paid attention to packaging as well as the quality of their products!

After trying these products, I went back online to Superdrug (as they have free delivery till the 18th of June I believe?) and ordered some more MUA products!! I was really impressed with the eye dust so I ordered another and also ordered two more neutral coloured lipsticks, so when they arrive I may do another product review for you all!

Hope you found this useful and I would definitely recommend MUA, its really great value and the products themselves are good quality for the price!

Hannah Elizabeth

First Review - Glamour freebies!!

So... I guess an easy way to start is to do a product review and talk about some products that were given away in the UK Glamour magazine this month!

The products that I'm talking about are from Benefit, they are sample sizes however you do get a good amount of the product (4ml) and you only use a small amount on application so I'm sure they will last a long time! I picked up the 'benetint' and 'posietint', however Glamour are also giving away sample sizes of High Beam but I already have a full size version of this product!

Benetint and posietint are marketed (as the name would suggest!!) as a tinted lip and cheek stain, whereas High Beam is a really shimmery highlighter.

I've never actually tried these products before so was really excited when I knew you could get sample sizes with Glamour, a magazine that I do love and buy each month!

Top: posietine

Bottom: benetint

I did some swatches on my hand to test them and found that on first application, I do actually prefer posietint to benetint but this is merely because I personally prefer lighter colours on my cheeks! However what I love about benetint is the smell, its really fragrant and smells like roses which is lovely! I was a bit worried that both of the products would be really strong in colour because they are marketed as a stain, and was nicely surprised to see that they are quite subtle, which allows you to build up the colour if you prefer!

All in all I'm really happy with these two products and am really excited to test them further and see how they look in my daily make up routine!

Let me know which products you picked up in the Glamour giveaway and what you think of my first post!

Hannah Elizabeth

First blog post!

Well, I've just finished three long years at University and have a very long summer ahead - with no graduate job in sight I thought I would set up a beauty and fashion blog to occupy my time! 

Really started getting into these kinds of blogs so thought I would set one up and do some product reviews, make up looks, maybe some outfits of the day I'm not too sure! I'm not a make up artist nor have I studied make up or fashion in any way it is just a really keen interest of mine!

I've got a couple of ideas for posts so I might do a couple today to start me off and see how it goes!

Hannah Elizabeth