January 2012 Favorites

I have never done a monthly favorites post before but thought I would start now! These are products I have been loving this month, some are new and some a rediscoveries. Sorry for the pants picture quality, my camera is crap and my flat is dark. Hope you like!

Elemis Sp@ Home - Frangipani Monoi Body Oil (£29.70 - 100ml) - I got this as a sample when I bought two Elemis products a while ago but I put it away and forgot about it. I was considering buying some hair oil when I remembered I had squirreled this away. This oil can be used on hair, nails and body. I use them on all three! I use it as a deep treatment on my hair once a week by applying it to dry hair and then relaxing for a few hours until I shampoo it out. On my nails I use it when I take my varnish off to give them an extra moisture boost. On my body I apply it to damp skin and it soaks in leaving my skin baby smooth and smelling amazing.

 The only down point I have with this product is that it is solid in the bottle at room temperature and you have to warm it up for it to melt into an oil. So I have to know when I am going to use it as I have to wait 10 minutes before it is warm enough to melt! 

I have bought a full size bottle since opening this one so it isn't that much of an inconvenience obviously!

Phyto PhytoBaume Color Protect Express Conditioner (£10.20 -150ml) - This was one of the samples I recieved in my first Feel Unique Beauty Box. Although I don't colour my hair anymore I still have some bits that have been highlighted in the past. These tend to get dry and frizzy looking. I have used this product 3 times now and I am very impressed. You apply it to damp hair after shampooing and then rinse it out immedietly. This is a bit odd for me as I usually leave my conditioner on for a while. Having said that you wouldn't know it had only been on for a few seconds. It works very well, very fast! Smooth silky hair after using this. However it is £10.20 for a full sized 150ml bottle. Not sure I like it that much!

Next are two products worn together. I recently rediscovered my GOSH Lip Gloss 0010 (Not sure how much this was I bought it such a long time ago!). It is a shimmery pinky nude which looked really nice over MAC Creme Cup (£13.50). I have been wearing this on nights out and love it. I don't tend to wear lip glosses in the day as my hair tends to stick to it which drives me insane!

Figs & Rouge - Rambling Rose - lip, face & body balm  (£3.49 - 8ml) - There has been a lot of publicity about Figs & Rouge at the moment as apparently Emma Watson said it is one of her favorite products. Well she has a point! I have had this balm for quite some time now and apply it to my lips and any dry patches on my face every night. This is a winter must have if you ask me! I need to add more to my collection so I can have one in every bag as well as on my bedside table. Plus it is an utter bargain!

My January Favorites Most Favorite!

This month my most used and enjoyed product is another I got in my Beauty Box. 

It is the Lierac Paris - Creme Mesolift (£30.60 - £50ml). 

This is a rich anti aging moisturiser. I claims to make skin feel toned, smoothed and moisturised. I would say it definitely does all three. It doesn't leave any greasy residue which I hate. It just leaves you feeling moisturised, toned and fresh. It smells fantastic too, very zesty! The orange tinge to the cream did put me off at first but now I think it makes it look cute. This is a generous 15ml jar but I will be purchasing a full sized jar before my 10% code from my Beauty Box runs out!

Can't wait to do next months post. I wonder what will be my most favorite of February?

Loves xxx

My Mini Meadowhall Haul

I met up with my friend in Meadowhall the other day. I haven't been for a good look round for a while and really enjoyed myself. We went to Las Iguanas for a spot of lunch and a cheeky glass of wine before I spent a few pennies on the following!...

Primark Goodies! - Beige ballet pumps £4, Black ballet pumps £4, Cotton rich black tights £2.50, Make up bag £3, Jumper £12, Skirt £1 (BARGAIN!).

Boots 3 for 2 Goodies!

 Bourjois Volume Clubbing Ultra Black Mascara £7.99, Bourjois Light Illuminating  Eye Shadow 01 £6.99, Bourjois Light Illuminating  Eye Shadow 03 £6.99.

 Umberto Giannini Glam Hair Rock 'N' Roll Extreme Hairspray £1.99, Umberto Giannini Glam Hair Morning After Dry Shampoo £1.99, Umberto Giannini Incredible Body Volume Blow Dry Spray For Big Hair £1.99.

Bourjois Light Eye Shadows Left - 01 Right - 03.

I am excited to try these two shadows, they just caught my eye when walking past the stand! They are very finely milled and are not glittery at all just extremely shimmery. Hopefully they will be perfect for the corner of my eyes to make them look wider and maybe on my brow bone when heading out for the night! Was hard to capture how pretty the colours are as the lighting in my room is crap!

Seen as it was 3 for 2 in Boots it would have been rude not to have picked up something else to try. I am very picky with my mascaras and use an expensive one everyday just so I don't have any flaking! I cannot stand mascaras that flake! 

For a night out however I do like to pile on mascara for a voluminous look and I dont want to waste my expensive stuff! Seen as this has been "tested and loved by clubbers" according to the tube I thought I would give it a whirl! The wand doesn't look too big either, I hate it when they are so big you catch your lid with it.

Overall I am very happy with my bargains! I went into Topshop and saw a few things I liked but when I tried them on they looked awful. That always seems to happen to me in Topshop. I also made myself walk away form Debenhams very quickly! The MAC, Urban Decay and Elemis counters were calling out to me but I was a good girl! I need to remember I am a student and when I get a job I can treat myself. 

Having said that I have just bought some things from a few blog sales! I think I will do a haul of blog sales in the future when I get all my goodies delivered!

Loves xxx

My Nails Inc. Collection

I love Nails Inc. (And no I haven't been paid to do this post!)

Just thought I would share my love of Nails Inc. with you all! I have been a fan for some time now. I just love how easy they are to apply, how the colour is exactly as it looks in the bottle and how long lasting they are. 

I do have a lot of drug store nail polishes and do use them but I really enjoy applying Nails Inc.

I find the consistency of the polishes just right, thick but not too sticky and thick that they are hard to work with or take ages to dry. They nearly always go on evenly and most only need one coat.

Here are the polishes I own so far. I did have more but I have used them up (and some I have misplaced!).

Top row - 

1. hydepark corner / 2. hyde park mews / 3. fulham palace road / 4. cromwell road / 5. sydney street / 6. bruton street.

Middle row -

8. belgrave place / 9. denim / 10. henrietta street / 11. tate / 12. savile row / 13.  victoria / 14. union street.

Bottom row-

15. candy street / 16. the hurlingham / 17. hans road / 18. monmouth street / 19. shoreditch / 20. oxford circus.

Others -

 Left to Right - Kensington caviar basecoat, Kensington caviar 45 second topcoat, Albert bridge topcoat, Matte effect top coat.

I am also a fan of their base and top coats. I have definitively seen an improvement on the longevity of my polish if I wear both the Kensington Caviar top and base coat. I would say I get an extra 2 days wear than if I didn't use it. Both the Caviar and the Albert bridge top coats give a gorgeous wet look shine. The matte effects top coat does exactly what it says! I find I can wear brighter colours all year round with this rather than saving them for summer!

I have purchased all of these myself, 7 and 9 were from the Diet Coke promotions they have done in the past.

I am not a huge fan of the mini bottles that I bought as a collection because I find them a little fiddly but they are good if you want to try out a variety of colours.

I do think these polishes are quite pricey at  £11 a bottle and £12 for the top and base coats but in my opinion they are the best out of the high end polishes and at the moment there is a SALE!

I think a good and cheaper alternative are the Models Own, I own a fair few of those as well!

I would say the most worn out of these have to be number 1,7 13!

Is there any colour out there that I just HAVE to try?!

Loves xxx

Fulham Palace Road

Love this gorgeous milky beige. 

Reminds me of Caramac! 

Nails Inc. - Fulham Palace Road

(My Nails Inc. collection to follow.)

Loves xxx

UNII Palette

I have had a Z.Palette for some time now and I love it but I got to the point where I needed another. From watching some reviews on YouTube about the Unii palette I thought I may give this one a try instead of getting another Z.

When it first arrived I loved the packaging. It is much sleeker and fancier than how my Z.Palette was packaged. It came with instructions of how to depot my eye shadows, how to add magnets to those shadows which weren't magnetized and how to keep the palette clean.

My first impression of the palette itself was 'Woooo sparkly pretty!'. I had opted for the Pear colour which is a bit odd for me as I would normally go for pink! I was not disappointed with my choice. It is a very pale green with gorgeous silvery green glittery particles in the plastic.

The palette feels a lot stronger and heavy duty while still being super cute! I like the fact that it has a large mirror inside because if I am traveling and need to be clever with my baggage I could leave my hand mirror at home and just use this. On their website they also say you can fit a small brush and liner pencil in too. I would like to try this because if 3 eye shadows, a blush, a liner pencil and a brush can fit in there than that may cut my make up bag in half for a trip away!

It comes will a thumb grip (?) and a magnetic sheet so if your pans are not magnetic you can cut and stick a magnet on the bottom and away you go... I did try this with one of my shadows but I don't think that the magnet holds it as securely as those pans which are magnetic. So unfortunately that shadow can't make it into the palette as I am too scared it will come loose and explode! 

My only concern about this palette is that I'm not sure if my shadows are secure?! When i put my shadows in my Z.Palette and my MAC Pro Palette I feel like the magnets are really powerful and it takes some effort to get the shadows off the base. With this I don't feel like the magnet on the base is overly strong. 

On the packaging it also tells you that when traveling put some tissue over the shadows before closing for extra protection. This doesn't fill me with lots of confidence if I am honest! I hope it proves me wrong but I wouldn't be surprised if I find a shadow explosion at some point...PLEASE PROVE ME WRONG!

You can get the UNII Palette here for £15.00 each.

Loves xxx

Umberto Giannini Overnight Beauty Moisture Review

I got this in a set that I bought from Boots in the sale. I bought the set mainly for the shampoo and conditioner but last night I was bored and though my dry ends could do with some attention.

Firstly I combed through my hair with my Tangle Teezer to get rid of any knots. Then I applied the balm through the mid-lengths and ends of my hair. Then I combed through with a normal comb.

Now I think I put a little too much on because when reading the product description you are meant to be able to get up the next day and not need to wash your hair...well I couldn't have done that seen as I put so much on that I looked very greasy! 

I then tied my hair up and went to sleep!

This is how it looked once I had washed it as normal and blow dried it. I think it does seem a lot softer but the ends are still a little dry. I think to be honest that the ends are beyond repair so next week I will be having a good trim before having another good go at growing my hair!

I would recommend this but I don't think it does anything that an oil wouldn't do but on the other hand it is only £5.61, I don't think you will find an oil for that price!

Oh and just a little tip...If you put lots of the product on like I did, put a towel over your pillow or it will get a bit marked like mine did!

Loves xxx

'It's Time to Rock!'

Very impressed with this nail varnish. 

Great thick brush and 2 coats was plenty! 

I wish I could buy more!

Sephora - It's Time to Rock

Loves xxx