L'oreal Rouge Caress

 This proves how bad I am, and I still want more *hangs head in shame*

What can I say though, I love lippies :)

I wasn't going to write this yet, but since I took the photos and drafted them on here I'm too impatient not to post yet.

 Ok, so these look like they'd come under a balm like the revlon lip butters, but for me these are more of a gloss shaped in stick form. I will say they're not sticky at all though. They're very light on the lips *Kiss* 

I wouldn't say they're very moisturising (for me anyway) but I do like how light they feel and they have a mouthwatering look about them.

The colours are sheerer than the Revlon Lip Butters, and it did take a while trying to photo the swatches as they're so sheer the camera wouldn't focus on them, so I appologise about the swatch pictures.

From Left to Right: 07 Cheeky Magneta, 03 Lovely Rose, 01 Fashionista Pink

 Cheeky Magneta

 Lovely Rose

Fashionista Pink

Colour wise I really like how Cheeky Magneta and Lovely Rose as the colours are sheer yet bright, and what's lovely is the sheerness allows your lips pigment to come through slightly, so I think these will look pretty different on everyone.

I have to say I'm not so keen on Fashionista pink, the colour is a bit 'Bla' and this one seemed to settle in the lines on my lips more for some reason, maybe it will grow on me though.

Anyway I hope my swatches help someone to makeup their mind on which colours most appeal :)

XxX

New hair colour and some L'oreal.

Hi, I'm trying to keep this blog more updated than it has been, so i just thought I'd blog about my new hair colour =)

As you may know I have had a lot of colours on my hair of late, red, brunette and blonde and this caused a lot of damage to my hair :(

However I have now decided to go back and stay my natural medium blonde colour. So with a little help from my hairdressers she was able to match me to a colour and applied a semi-permanant dye as she didn't want to damage my hair any further.

The plan was to go a Rosie Huntington Whiteley blonde.

As seen here.

 Taken from modelcandids.com

 

However it couldn't be done straight away. 

The plan is to have some highlights added to the underlayers of my hair in a couple of months as I need my hair to repair itself a little before damaging it further, and to let my roots to grow out so I get the slight ombre look Rosie has going on.

So here is my hair now.

Next for the makeupy bit :)

I have to admit I'm not a huge fan of drugstore cosmetics, I don't know why. Possibly it's either its hit or miss with the quality or that it feels more glamorous opening a box to a Dior or Chanel Lipstick and applying it, I don't know.

However with these two little L'oreal goodies you can't go wrong ;)

The other day I realised I didn't have a liquid eyeliner anymore 'shock', so I went out and bought one straight away.

After having a quick look on the Boots website before going in out I read some good reviews on the L'oreal Super Liner so I decided it would be the one :)

And I'm so glad I bought it, it's lovely.

It gives a smooth application with its sponge tip applicator, which also allows easy control unlike some of the more brush tipped ones.

You can see in the pic below that I was able to do a quick squiggle with it :)

The liner itself is jet black and stays on all day. I took this photo after about 6hours of wear and it was still holding good.

I bought the L'oreal Studio Secrets Lip Glow a while back in the summer when it was on offer, however overlooked it until now.

The L'oreal Lip Glow is more of less the equivalent of the Diorcolour Reviver Balm (which I really love and have a past post on Here).

The main two differences between the Dior and L'oreal lip glows is the colour and the texture.

I find that the Dior reviver turns a more blueish pink on me, while the L'oreal turns a more berry colour.

Texture wise the Dior has a creamier more moisturising feel, while the L'oreal is more gelly and light feeling on the lips.

Both pretty different but the same, and for those reasons I love them both :)

Well maybe the Dior one slightly more because of the packaging ;)

Anyway I shall be back soon with more bloggings on Bioderma (I actually found it online) and Moroccanoil Shampoo.

In the meantime thanks for reading, and I hope you've all done your Christmas shopping.

Take Care. X

Recent Eyeshadow Haul

 So umm hey, remember me?

I've been meaning to blog for months, but didn't know where to start.  I'd tell myself I'd blog a week or two after purchasing an item so I could review properly, but then would sort of forget. Or would just not use the product frequently enough to talk about it.

But tonight I forget bugger it, I'll just post some swatches to contribute something :D

 So I thought tonight I'd start with some eyeshadows that I bought quite recently, say 3weeks ago.

The two top ones are L'oreal color infallible in 016 Coconut Shake (the light beigey one) and 012 Endless Chocolat. 

I was drawn to these eyeshadows because I'd read in a magazine that they were a powder/cream shadow. 

So when I went to try them in Superdrug I was expecting a creamy shadow, but when I touched them they were powder, but a creamy, velvety sort of texture powder. However they are nice and light and pretty pigmented. They apparently last upto 24hours to, but I usually don't wear makeup for that long to test whether that's the case or not :p

The only thing I'm a bit picky about is the packaging. When you open it there's a little lid on the eyeshadow, I know it's to keep it save and stop it from shattering however when I'm in a rush it's a bit fiddly.

I'm being a diva now.

They're not bad for the price either at £6.99

The Max Factor shadow is Max Effect in 04 Golden Bronze. At the time when I bought this I thought it was more copper toned (damn those deceiving shop lights), but it is a lovely colour (see swatches below) and it's lovely and smooth, glides on like a dream and was cheap too at £4.99. Bargain!! It really makes my Blue/green eyes pop when I wear it :)


   

 Anyway I really appologise for my long pause on this blog, but I will try to keep up and also the whole thing needs updating as it is looking disorganised.

Hope to speak to you all soon.

Take care. Christina XxX

Today's Fotd (minimal eyeshadow).

Hi there, hope everyone's well and happy :)

I just thought I'd post a quick Fotd and some products I'm very much enjoying at the moment.

I was in that cheap bargain shop the other day, browsing and not planning to buy anything as I'd just bought a load of lippie from Boots, but then the word 'Stila' caught my eye.
So I walked calmly over to see if my eyes were deceiving me, and they weren't :)
I've been on the lookout for the perfect natural eyeshadow for ages, as my favourite Mac Steep eyeshadow is almost finished :(
Yes, so I picked up the little packet and it was an eyeshadow by Stila in Dune, and it is the most perfect natural eyeshadow for me.
I love wearing allover the lid and brow bone all by itself, with just a bit of brown eyeliner and L'oreal Architect Mascara in Brown.
Nice easy, peasey natural eyes :)


Next product is Givenchy's Blush in Euphoric orange. I've had this since before Christmas, and it was an impulse buy, and because it's fairly bright it's scared me a little.
However lately I've felt the courage to try it, and it's not that bad. It's more of a coral shade and it does look quite natural on me for some odd reason.
The application is smooth and just a dream to apply. It gives a lovely glow, even though it's not shimmery or frosty (which I find Mac's MSF's can be).

In Boot's I saw these L'oreal color Riche Serum Lippies and I HAD to have one, so I bought Freshly Candy.
This colour reminds me of Mac's Pink Nouveau (I need to compare, can't remember where I've put Pink Nouveau, I shall have to find it).
These lipsticks have a very cute moisturising centre (which remind me of hearts) and that is where the Collagen and Hyaluronic Acid is kept.
I find this lippie very nicely moisturising, even though it feel's a tiny bit heavy, but the nice moisturisation makes up for that.
It also lasts quite well for a lipstick too, I'd definitely purchase more of these.

This is what L'oreal say's about this product:

'L’Oréal Paris Boosting Serum Inside is our first lipstick with a serum heart, enriched with ingredients from our advanced skincare technology, Collagen and Pro- Xylane®, chosen for their moisturising properties.Lips are plumped with moisture, defined, and enveloped in voluptuous colour that doesn’t feather. Available in 8 sumptuous new shades. '

And that is what sold me,lol.
These Lipsticks are £8.99 in Boots (there is a 3 for 2 offer on at the moment though).


And so here's the whole look :)
I'm also wearing Korre's Wild Rose Foundation in WRF2 and some of Bobbi Browns creamy concealer under the eyes, and other imperfect areas.



Thanks for reading and Take Care :) x

Mondays Boots Haul

I popped to Boots on Monday in need of something, after being stuff in the house from all the snow.
So my dad popped me into the nearest little town, and I bought a few little things :D

First thing I bought was something I'd fancied before Christmas, and that was a Ruby& Millie palette. It was reduced down to £7.50 from £15. Bargain. They're really nice pigmented eyeshadows too, pretty good quality. I can imagine getting a couple of looks out of this palette, I'm excited to play with it.


The colours don't have names, but they range from a champagne gold, to a smokey silvery grey.



I bought the Maybelline Colossal mascara, I've had my L'oreal one for a couple of months and I needed a change. I put some on today, only one coat and it defined all my lashes nicely.

I also bought the L'oreal Elvive Re-nutrition Night serum, my hair is feeling a bit dry from all this cold weather.
I used some one monday night, and last night and it does make my hair feel softer, but I don't really get much shine from it. It is lightweight however, and does make it feel nourished.

Hope you're all ok, and thanks for reading :D

Fave Makeup of 2009

In 2009 my love for natural makeup and sultry looks became stronger, so I liked to look as though I hadn't tried much (even though I had).
So I didn't try much in the way of colour, and I just liked to keep everything simple.


I have quite bad dark circles (it's inherited) and my nose not being the smallest casts even more of a shadow.
So I needed a concealer that covered my dark circles without masking them and making them look more noticeable and for me Macs Moisturecover concealer did just that.
It has a nice, light consistency which can be layered up, and doesn't just lie in fine lines, which as I am getting older seem to notice more :(


Next product was just a bit of a fluke, I was playing around with makeup in boots one day and I tried a bit of Bourjois 10 hour sleep effect on my hand, and it was so soft, light and smooth that I was sold.
I thought that as soon as I'd worn it over a week that I'd get bored of it, but no this one seems to come into my makeup routine quite often.
The colour really suits my skin (I bought it in rose clair 72) and it's not at all heavy and blends easily. It's worth the £8 something I paid.

For my birthday I had Bobbi Browns Skin foundation, which is a really gorgeous foundation.
It's pretty light, but I sometimes mix a little bit of moisturiser with it if I'm having a good skin day, and it still looks good.
It hides the large pores on my nose well, and creates a nice smooth, even complexion.
I know if I'm having a bad skin day I can rely on this.

I like to have a couple of concealers for different things, and I find Bobbi Browns Creamy concealer kit to be quite effective at hiding my birthmark, and the little pot of loose powder on the bottom of the little stacker helps set the concealer to give it staying power.
I do however find it a bit heavy around the eye area sometimes, but saying that it's really good at hiding the odd spot.



Next is my weak spot, BLUSHER!!
If I don't wear any blusher I feel naked, blusher awakens my complexion and makes me look alive.
I do like matching the tone of my blusher to either my lipstick for some reason, it looks more natural.

The first blusher is YSL Blsuh Variation 13, which when you look at it you think "how on earth is that going to look natural", but when you put it on it gives a lovely plum glow, which looks oddly natural.

Mac's Springsheen was a blush I'd eyed up for ages, and in the end I gave in went skint and bought it, and I'm so glad I did.
It gives a really lovely natural peach colour, it contains shimmer and instead of looking harsh the shimmer looks glowy, so you get a nice healthy glow.

The item isn't really a blusher, it's more of a blusher/bronzer. I use it as a bronzer as I have very fair skin and there's enough pink in it to make it look natural on me, and make me look less corpse'ish.
I use this most days underneath my blusher, just to set it off a bit.



My favourite eye shadows of the year were from the Bobbi Brown palettes.
I have the Shimmering nudes palette and earth metal palette.
The shimmering nudes allows you to create a glowy, smokey eye, and the earth metal palette contains golds, a silver, forest green and brown which you can create a more earthy metallic look with.

I love these palettes as they're so pigmented and easily blended, they're a dream to apply.
Plus the earth metal palettes contains lipsticks that are really handy if you can't be bothered searching for a matching lippie, or really handy when traveling.



I have a thing for lipsticks and lipglosses, they can make you look groomed and made up in a matter of seconds.
I don't like drying products on my lips as I like to keep them as moisturised and plump as possible.
I don't like products that are too gloopey or sticky either, and the products I keep in my handbag and reach out for most are the above, which are:
Macs cremesheen shy girl, Bobbi Brown's rich color gloss in dusty rose, Mac cremesheen glass in melt in your mouth, Givenchy's gloss interdit 02 and Macs Mimmy from the hello kitty collection.



My mascara of the year is L'oreal's double extension mascara.
Before this my HG mascara was Mac's Plush Lash, but after trying this I couldn't go back.
It's double ended and contains the famous renewal serum on one end, which is meant to make your lashes grow longer.
It then has a lovely black, liquidy mascara on the other end, which makes it easier to get those lashes in the place you want to.

And they're my fave products of 2009, wonder what products I will love in 2010.

Mac smoke and Mirrors Palette and FOTD!

Hey all, hope you're all doing well?!
I've been a bit down lately, because of my hair still falling out, and a few other things and that's why I haven't posted.
Anyway my mum bought me this palette the other day, as a treat to cheer me up a bit, so I thought I'd show you all, and post some swatches :)

I did think that after having two Bobbi Brown Palettes and loving them so much that I wouldn't want a Mac one for a while.
That is until I saw the Smoke and Mirrors palette.

As you can see from the swatches above the colours are very neutral, look very much like the Bobbi Brown Shimmering Nudes palette except there is a very nice beige colour (fire in her eyes) which is very wearable, and I know I will be using this one a lot.
I also love Wide eyed wonder which is a greyish taupe, and great for a sultry smokey look and the texture is very smooth to apply, and very pigmented.
The only one that has a weird hardish, chalkish texture that is harder to apply is Deception, you need to apply a few layers to get the colour to show (well I do, could just be me)?!

These colours are very wearable, and I love them :)
Below is a look I created earlier today. Excuse the crazy weird hair, I was caught in the rain earlier.
Damn rain, we have so much of it here in the UK.

What I Used:
Skin: Bobbi Brown Skin Foundation in Sand 2.
Bobbi Brown Creamy concealer in Cool Sand.
Bobbi Brown Sheer Color Cheek Tint - Sheer pink 6.

Eyes: Smoke and Mirrors Palette
Lid and Brow bone - Fire in her eyes
Lid - Wide Eyed Wonder
Crease and Liner - Black Magique Lower Lid - Spell No9 Mascara - L'oreal Double extension with Renewal Serum

Lips: Givenchy Gloss Interdit 02



Also because of this crap weather I fancied something pretty that would lift my mood, so I bought a bag from Acessorize.

I love the gold butterflies on it and its just really pretty.

Thanks for reading :)

L'oreal Wrinkle DE-CREASE Collagen filler - Lips

Product: L'oreal Wrinkle DE-CREASE COLLAGEN FILLER Double Action - Lip + Lip Contour (long name).

Price: £13 Approx

Where to purchase: Boots or superdrug (in the UK).

Product Description: This product is a double ended product which has a Lip contour smoothing cream on one end, and a Lip plumping cream on the other.
L'oreal claims this product 'defines lip contour, re-plump lips. Lips look visibly younger'.

The Lip contour side contains collagen Biospheres which on the back of the packaging says 'Collagen biospheres absorb into the upper layers of the skin. On contact with water naturally present in skin, they inflate up to 9 times their volume'.
Sounds good.

Then step 2 is the Lip Plumping Cream which is enriched with Hyaluronic Acid, which is meant to help re-plump lips for a natural looking effect.
L'oreal says ' Hyaluronic Acid works to lock in water naturally present in the skin to help hydrate and re-plump.

Application: This product comes in two steps.
The first step is to apply the Lip contour smoothing cream around the lip line (around where you'd put your lip liner).
You then massage it into the skin.
Next you apply step 2, the Lip Plumping cream, you apply this directly to your lips, and massage it in ( I like to tap excess cream into the skin).
The packaging says to apply it morning and night, and that it is an excellent base for makeup.

What I think: I knew when buying this I wasn't going to achieve Angelina Jolie sized lips (gave up on that years ago), but now that I'm getting older I felt that I needed abit more of a skincare routine for my lips, other than vaseline.
I can't say I have seen a massive difference in my lips, but I do notice that they look a little more plumped, more than when I was just using lip balm and vaseline.
I do like that I feel I'm giving my lips a treat and that's sort of why I like this product.

Would I buy again: I could live without this product, but I do really like it, so YES I would buy it again, even if for the feeling of being pampered,lol.

I'm new to reviewing, so I hope that little review made some sense. If you have any questions I will try to answer them for you the best I can :) x

Mac and L'oreal Haul! Very teeny.

Yesterday my Mac delivery came, Woohoo. I ordered the Graphic Garden Palette in Fresh Cut, a really pretty pink palette.
The finishes are mostly frost and velux pearl, but they're very nice and I did wear them out today (I'll post a FOTD in a bit).
I really like the Poppy Noir colour, its probably my favourite, it is a nice chocolate sort of brown colour, that's how I see it anyway.
Then there's Part Peony which is the brightest pink in the palette, but I love it.
Sun-Shy is a lovely peachy orangey colour I think, its hard to describe, reminds me of Love-Bud though.
Fresh cut is also lovely and reminds me of cranberry, there's a lot of red in this colour.
Bloomcycle is very opal'ish to me, lovely pinky silver colour, that's how I'd describe it anyway.
Last but not least floral inc is very similar to Bloomcycle but has a darker pink pigment to it, but its more sheer. Argh can't explain.

I also ordered a Cremesheen lippy in Shy Girl, I've been looking for something more neutral. Even though the site says its a creamy neutral coral beige, I find it very peachy on myself, I love it :)

When I was walking to the tills at Tesco tonight I came across L'oreal Sublime Bronze face tan for £3, it was at half price so I grabbed it :)
On the packet it claims to give a radiant complexion (just what I've been needing lately), and it moisturises and illuminates.
This stuff contains Vitamin E, which we all know has anti-oxidant properties.
The light reflecting pigments in this stuff illuminates the skin (so that's what does it).
Yeah, I'm going to try this baby on in a bit, and I'll tell you what I think.
I've previously used Clarins Auto-Bronzante tan, and its been lovely but something doesn't quite click for me, and it always goes bright orange on my neck :S

I've also used St. Tropez which goes too dark for my skin tone, so I have laid off the fake tan for two weeks, but while in a shop the other day I was shocked how white I was , so that's why I'm going to start being a fake tan user and abuser again :P

Todays Silly outfit.

Today I had to run down to the health shop to get my nana some organic flour, and in the process I got caught by a downpour of bloody rain,lol.
Since I wasn't planning on going out or anything today I was wearing silly clothes, and trying to see how I could wear my Topshop Zebra cropped T-shirt.
When I bought the Tshirt online it said cropped, it didn't mention its so bloody baggy it could fit two of me in it. So I tried layering a long sleeved top underneath, since it is quite cold today.

I know one thing from today's experience though, I won't be wearing white without some fake tan. Oh and I need to start carrying my umbrella around with me :P

The makeup I'm wearing today isn't V good so I'm not going to do any pics of that.

One good thing came out of today's little trip though and that is L'oreal's Collagen Filler double action Lip + Lip contour, I've wanted this stuff for a while now. In Boots its down from £13 something, to £9 something (can't remember how many pennies.
Im really looking forward to using this stuff, my lips are needing some Oomph.

I shall write a review on this stuff in a week or so, just to let you know whether its a gimmick or something good ;)

Abit of Everything Haul.

Yay, I went shopping today :) Bumped into an old friend I hadn't seen for a while and yeah, just decided I wanted a bit of everything today. And here's what I got:




I popped into Holland& Barrett (Health Shop) and bought some Biotin and coconut water (I remember The Gloss Goss saying she liked this stuff).
I haven't tried it yet, but I'm going to have a workout tomorrow (because I'm lazy and my arse is starting to sag :( lol ) and this Vita Coco is meant to help with hydration after a work out.
So this coconut water will be my little incentive. I found this info on a website that says this about it, to give you a better idea:

Vita Coco is a delicious, refreshing and nourishing drink containing only the pure water from young green coconuts. Vita Coco is rich in alkalizing minerals including, potassium, magnesium and calcium and is wonderful for rehydrating and energizing the body. Vita Coco is naturally isotonic, making it the perfect sports drink and is excellent for replacing the electrolytes lost when working out or during sports. Vita Coco contains No preservatives, No Colouring and No Added Sweeteners Refreshing, Energizing Coconut Water Rich in Minerals Great, Naturally Isotonic Sports Drink Perfect for making Young Green Coconut Kefir No Preservatives, Colours or Sweeteners Vita Coco is great in smoothies, on ice or as a frozen treat!

Info from here: http://www.red23.co.uk/Vita-Coco-Young-Green-Coconut-Water-330ml_p_791.html

The Biotin I bought is for the hair loss crap I'm experiencing, I heard that it can help hair to grow, so its worth a try.
On the jar it says "Supports Healthy Vision& skin health, Releases Energy from foods" so if it doesn't do anything for my hair, it ought to do something for my skin and energy levels anyway.

Ooh a quick mention about whats happening with my hair anyway, I visited the hairdresser a few weeks back, and there are little teeny dots on my scalp which she said is the hair growing back and coming through the follicle, so YAY. I cant wait for it to grow back :)

I also bought some L'oreal Castings Hair dye in Mahogany Rich Auburn, haven't tried this Mahogany red before so I hope it suits me.

I've been reading up about French women's beauty secrets and apparently they love cellulite creams and firming creams, and since I will be 26 in October (I'm scared, I still feel and act 18) i decided maybe I should give these cellulite things a go, I don't have cellulite, but I hope this L'oreal PerfectFirm Pro prevents it anyway.
This cellulite massage system has a little roller to massage cellulite areas (as massage helps circulation and I've read that cellulite is helped by this).
This massage roller really kneads your skin, I wasn't expecting it to feel like that, but it does feel like it's doing something.
Then after you've done some roller massaging you pop the firming post massage concentrate on to the areas you've worked. It contains Co-caffeine Cx which is meant to improve the appearance of cellulite.
Once again I've read somewhere before that caffeine stimulates circulation in the skin, and well some people actually rub coffee granules into their skin, not sure if it works but i bet they smell like a nice Coffee Cafe afterwards :)


The next thing I had was the Garnier Caffeine Eye Roll-on (you're going to think I'm proper Caffeine addicted now). I can't wait to try this, I suffer from really bad dark circles mainly because I inherited them, and then they're made worse by allergies and insomnia,lol. I will keep you updated on whether it works or not anyway.


I also had a face cream which is the L'oreal Triple Active day cream, I'm so scared of getting old and wrinkly now I'm getting older that I feel the need for face creams all the time. This cream has vitamin E, ceramide and UV filter. This cream is meant to 'protect against daily stresses and help retain a more youthful appearance', so we'll see how that goes.
When you buy a cream you imagine waking up a new person, but then you look in the mirror and still see your ugly mug looking back, well I do anyway hehe.
(Damn those pretty models, I thought all this beauty stuff would make me look like them)




Eyeko Eye shadow


Eyeko Lip Balm


I did a little eyeko shop too, as I bought a pile of the creams a couple of years ago which I still haven't used them, they're still in their little gift bag things I bought them in.
Anyway I bought an eyeshadow and a lipbalm and I'm quite disappointed with both :(
The eyesahdows don't have much pigment (apart from the dark pink and light pink ones), they're also very chunky in texture and hard to get out of the pan, I'll wear them in the week to see how they go anyway.
The Lip Balm sounded nice ( I have the creamy cupcake one) Its a clear balm with little bits of glitter in , however it's not very moisturizing and doesn't really last.

Ahh this is never ending, I also bought Collection 2000 nail varnish in dynasty, which is a lovely lilac colour. I'll wear it in the week and post a pic :)




The other thing I had was a pair of Hilfiger jeans in a khaki type colour. I'm going back to college soon, and I wanted to dress kinda preppy cool (or I could look preppy fool, knowing my luck) for my first day back, so I've been looking for a pair like this to put on with some brogues and a boyfriend jacket.
These jeans were only £12 :) from £16.99 and their RRP was £65, so a nice little bargain. They are an inch too big, but I'm going to adjust the buttons to get them to fit my waist.



I also bought something quite juvenile hehe, a skipping rope,lol.
I need to get fit and stuff, and the best sort of cardio to get your heart pumping is skipping so I bought a skipping rope in tesco for £1.77. So tomorrow I shall be skipping my arse off. :)
I did 10seconds of skipping earlier and was buggered, so I'm going to work on getting my stamina up :)

The next thing I want to post and talk about is my birthmark, so I might do that tomorrow, it will be exposing myself in a way.
Anyway hope you've had a nice Saturday :) x
(Me knackered after shopping, about to relax with a cuppa, oh and I didn't wear that hoodie shopping, that is just my comfy chillax hoodie).