Pretty Little Liars Book Series!

A slightly off topic post yet still another love of mine (apart from beauty) is reading. I have recently been immersed in the first Pretty Little Liars book. My sister first started reading it and then purchased the whole series which is exciting for me as i have just finished this book and absolutely loved it! Its like watching a TV show yet far more captivating as your imagination gets the better of you and the dark theme of the book becomes far more thrilling! Don't be fooled by the book cover, this may appear to be another boring high school teen novel however it is much more than this- think teen Desperate Housewives :) I cannot wait to read the remaining books in the series in the near future as well as watch the TV show (which i am still yet to do) and will update you as to whether they live up to the same standard as the first!

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DUPE: MAC Twinks Eyeshadow & e.l.f Raspberry Truffle Studio Eyeshadow

E.L.F Raspberry Truffle on the left & MAC Twinks on the right 

After rummaging through my makeup bag i noticed i had two very similar eyeshadow colours which were very different in their prices. The elf shadow costs only £3.50 and is available at http://www.eyeslipsface.co.uk/ whereas the MAC shadow costs a whopping £8.50 more at £12. As shown in the swatch, the colours are very similar however Twinks has a slightly warmer tone running through it, in addition, i can now inform you that it is also more durable as whilst writing this i looked over at my hand and noticed the elf swatch has disappeared more or less. However, this is nothing an  eye primer wont be able to fix and you do get alot more product for your money by purchasing the elf shadow (2.75g compared to the 1.3g MAC eyeshadows). All in all if your looking for a gorgeous dark brown shimmer to put in the crease, perfect for a smoky eye and your on a budget i would go for the elf shadow, however, if you've got more cash to splash the MAC one is more durable and also slightly easier to blend with.

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L'oreal Caresse Lipstick

with flash 

without flash - daylight

This is not a hue i usually go for when purchasing a new lipstick but despite it appearing quite dark in the tube   it's sheer pigmentation creates a 'your lips but better' kind of colour which is build able to create a darker berry colour- resembling that of the colour in the packaging. The smell resembles that of the lipstick name 'sweet berry' however its in no way overpowering. The gold and see through packaging is another plus along with its versatility as it can be worn as both a sheer lip tint as well as a full on lipstick. However, one negative aspect of this product is that it can dry out your lips after a while so be sure to apply a lip balm beforehand to lock in the moisture and increase shine!

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Maybelline Gel Liner & e.l.f. Angled Eyeliner Brush

These two products are a match made in heaven! I have been using this combo for a few weeks now in order to create the perfect winged eyeliner. Both products are really affordable, the brush being £3.50 and the gel liner £7.99. Prior to discovering this amazing eyeliner brush from http://www.eyeslipsface.co.uk/ i had just used the one that came with the gel eyeliner however that one was too large and wasn't the right shape for my eye, making it extremely difficult to get a precise, clean line.

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TONI & GUY Haircare Products!

My attempt at demonstrating the effects of the products :)

I had run out of my TRESemme heat protector and headed down to my local boots to buy another when i discovered the 3 for £10 deal on most of their higher-end hair care brands (Toni & Guy, James Brown, Mark Hill, John Freida, Charles Worthington). After seeing that the heat protector i previously used has now increased to £5 i thought it would be more worth my money to get some products included in the deal. I bought the Heat Protection Mist (£6.39), Dry Shampoo (£7.19) and Volumising Shampoo for fine hair  (£5.99) all for just £10! I have tried out all three products and they all smell lovely, rather different from my usual fruity hair shampoo scents, the smell is fresh and resembles that of a salon shampoo smell- which is always a plus! The dry shampoo doesn't leave that horrible white powder in your hair however i'm not sure if i would repurchase it at its full price as £7 seems a bit too much to spend on a dry shampoo. The shampoo left my hair feeling squeaky clean at first, whilst still retaining some moisture to my hair, making it manageable. After only using the heat protector 2 or 3 times it is difficult to comment on its effectiveness, however the packaging enables you to 'mist' your hair with the product, evenly distributing it through your hair. The packaging of all three products is also rather desirable, its simple yet elegant and looks like the type of product only available at top salons so that's always a plus! 

P.S. Sorry for not posting for such a long time but i had to take care of a lot of things, however i'm back now and will try to update my blog as much as possible from now on :) 

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Magazine Freebies!

These can be yours if you purchase the August '12 issues of ELLE and Red magazine. The REN travel size set consists of a 15ml Vetiver V7 hand and body cream, a 5ml Active Radiant Eye Gel and a 15ml Hydra- Calm Global Protection Day Cream. With ELLE comes a rather generous 75ml samlple of the St. Tropez Gradual Tan Everyday Body Moisturiser in Medium Dark. I will update you with a post once I've tested all for 7 days.

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NAKED 2 Palette - Review

from left to right- Foxy, Half Baked, Bootycall, Chopper, Tease, Snakebite, Suspect, Pistol, Verve, YDK, Busted, Blackout

Foxy, Half Baked, Bootycall and Chopper

Right, where do I start, I LOVE this palette! It's filled with 12 amazing yet wearable colours perfect for both everyday and for a neutral smoky eye- great for a night out. 3 are matte shadows (foxy, tease and blackout) and the rest are gorgeous shimmery shades that last all day even without a primer. My favourites have to be YDK, Snakebite and Verve as these are the ones I use the most. My everyday look consists of YDK on the whole lid, Snakebite in the crease, Verve in the inner corner, a bit of mascara and I'm good to go! Foxy and Bootycall are also great hues for highlighting under the brow. I purchased mine at House of Fraser where it currently retails at £36, a bit on the pricey side but it is definitely worth the price and will last you a very long time. It also comes with a double- ended synthetic eyeshadow brush, one end consisting of fluffy blending bristles and the other a smaller flat surface brush- presumably used for packing on the shadow, however I am not very fond of it as i find the colour does not show up well on the eye lid. Despite this, Urban Decay have made up for this by including another freebie which is their travel size Lip Junkie lipgloss in Naked.

Price: £36

Size: 1.5g x 12 of baked shadows

Worth Purchasing? Yes

+ Positive:

highly pigmented colours

wearable

long lasting 

- Negative:

price 

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Everyday Make- up Essentials!

from left to right-  Urban Decay Naked 2 Palette, Maybelline Colossal Mascara, No7 Colour Calming Face Primer, No7 Brown Eyebrow Pencil, Simple Radiance Brightening Moisturiser (spf 10), Nars Sheer Glow Foundation in Barcelona, Loreal Super Liner Ultra Precision, Mac Studio Finish Concealer in NC20, Mac Pro Longwear Concealer in NW20, Superdrug Eyelash Curlers, Sleek Face Contour Kit in Medium, Illamasqua Bronzer in Writhe, Real Techniques Buffing Brush, Elf Mineral Bamboo Complexion Brush 

This is pretty much all the products i wear on a day to day basis, which ones do you wear? 

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NIP+FAB Pistachio Sundae Body Butter

The Body Shop's Raspberry body butter (left) is a much thicker consistency 

Price: £5.65

Size: 200ml

Scent: Pistachio/Almond

Skin type: Dry

Consistency: Relatively thin for a butter 

Worth Purchasing? Yes

After hearing so much about this body butter from reading other beauty blogs, i decided to try it out for myself and headed down to my local boots where i was pleased to discover it was on sale for £5.65 down from £9.95! Having tested this product for about a week now I can definitely say it is one I intend on repurchasing. The smell is somewhat overbearing at first however this fades when blended into the skin leaving a lovely subtle, almost vanillery scent. Its main ingredients include avocado oil, honey and aquaxyl, avocado for repairing the skin and giving it a healthy sheen, honey for conditioning and smoothing the skin and aquaxyl for providing your skin with 24 hour moisture and shine.

+ Positive aspects:

smells amazing

reasonably affordable 

natural ingredients

quickly absorbs into skin

- Negative aspects:

smell can be slightly overpowering

not very moisturizing- for dry skin types  

  

To conclude, i recommend this to anyone who is seeking an affordable generally good body butter as it does the job and does leave the skin hydrated, however, if you do have dry skin you may want to look for something a bit more moisturizing as this is not an incredibly moisture- rich butter, perhaps try the body shop butters which leave your skin hydrated for longer. As well as this I probably would not recommend this to anyone with a sensitive nose or those who are not fond of heavily scented skin products as this butter does have a slightly sickly almond smell, however, saying this it does fade leaving a light scent on the skin. I however, love my skin products to smell amazing so this is a brand I will definitely be trying more products of!

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