Empties!! Lots and lots of empties...

As i finish one product i throw it into a classy Tesco bag and move on to the next. I thought it was time to recycle when i realised i had four deodorants and three shaving foams... I won't go through every single item as that's boring and will put you to sleep.

wow i go through a lot of products!

You know when you get shampoos and conditioners from travel sets or Christmas and you think you will get to use them but never get around to finishing? I am very guilty of this and always have random brands. Shampoo here, conditioner here. It just takes up space. 

L'oreal Everstrong No sulphates Conditioner didn't really agree with my hair and either made my hair greasy the same day or left it feeling dirty after directly washing my hair. Unfortunately there was a promotion so i have a couple more of these to get through. I hate when shops suck you in like that!

Orofluido shampoo and conditioner consisted of a creamy "gold" colour. I liked the shampoo but the conditioner was too light for my curly prone to frizz hair.

I would genuinly buy all these products again apart from the "Ever Since" hand and body lotion on the second left, which i got for Christmas in a nail set. The Body shop products never seize to let me down and i absolutely love the vanilla and brazil nut scents.

Crabtree and Evelyn's LA source and soothing body lotion were not my favourite scents. LA Source was a handy size for overnight stays and weekend breaks. The scent was favourites  by the men in my life. I used the soothing body lotion at night before bed due to its relaxing lavender and rosewood essential oils. In fact i've nearly finished my second bottle of this! The little squashed hand cream at the front there will be re-purchased when i finish all the millions of hand creams i have.

 I received Lush's Charity pot in Chocolate for Christmas. I used this to treat myself as it started depleting very quickly. The chocolate scent is strange and overpowering at first but once you put it on the skin it feels so soft and smells faintly sweet. I liked the thin consistency to it too.

Everyone knows how amazing Body Shop and Soap and Glory shower gels are so i won't go into those. I bought the No 7 Luxurious foaming shower oil (with the body spritz but that's not finished yet) as part as a 3 for 2. I love oils so the fact this could foam was a win for me. However, it didn't foam up that much and i had to remember not to pour out double of what i would normally use. I think i would purchase this again as it left my skin so silkly soft.  Used with the body oil it feels heavenly.

Good old Laura Mericer does it again. I bought these two in a set along with the matching shower gel (40 pounds gone down from 50 - bargain!) and used this for very special occasions like nights out or if  i needed a pick me up. The Creme Brulee smell is just amazing, but if you don't like sickly smells i wouldn't go for this as it smells very strongly of the dessert. The body creme is so thick and you can just tell it is expensive and luxurious: almost as if you stepped out of your bathroom and into a spa . If this wasn't too expensive i would definitely buy this set again. Hello Father Christmas?

I won't talk about the Bioderma but something i have been doing is putting them into these little Vichy samples. This has been good for weekends away or holidays and i will be keeping these little bottles for future trips. I am yet to buy another Bioderma but I've been using Decleor Aroma Cleanse followed by a face wash and moisturiser. I've lost my Decleor toner somewhere which is a sad time for me because it was a full, big bottle of it. Sigh.

I received the BB cream sample from a magazine and after using up the sample i went out and bought it straight away. I do my face as usual in the morning with moisturiser and use this on top as a replacement to foundation. I was using this the most in the summer months and on holiday, but if you apply too much it's hard to blend in. Another sample, which is the Yu Be skin cream, will not be purchased in full size. It smells very medicinal and although it claims to defeat dry skin i don't think it was any better than my usual handcreams.

The L'oreal mascara is my favourite and i would use again and again. I've actually finished another one and i'm on to my fourth. I've also repurchased a concealer and Laura Mercier foundation, which hasn't been touched all summer, winter is coming Laura don't worry!

Prada Candy is an amazing perfume! Is smells so sweet and as i love sweet smells it is perfect for me. It has base notes of caramel and top notes of musk (you can tell i'm good at recalling scents can't you?) The staying power isn't great but i still would purchase it again in the future. Right now i have the new Prada Candy which is my new favourite perfume. I like to mix it up although it is always the sweet scents i go for.

Lesley on Wishes do come true

I've been a very very naughty girl... oospie haha! Since completing my P10P I've gone a bit gaga and bought some new makeup I've been lusting over for ages (See wish list HERE.) The Bentall Center were having an exclusive 20% off sale on most their items so i took the plunge and bought Laura Mericer Tinted Moisturiser (full review on that later) and MAC "Blue Brown" (I love this sooo much and have been wearing it constantly since purchasing!) Saving myself around £12.00. Then there was a 25% off for students on ASOS so i bought another item on my wish list. Then onto ELF... i bought my cream base eyeshadows and eye primer (not shown) because... well just because! haha! Brace yourself this is going to be a long post! Now onto the beautiful products...

Elf Duo Eye Shadow Cream - 3g, £1.50 each (yes you read right!)

Ive heard some good reviews about this cream base so at £1.50 a pop i was desperate to get my hands on one! I initially wanted the 'Black Liquorice' duo but saw the 'Olive' duo and as i use a lot of brown eyeshadows i decided to get this too. I haven't tried these out yet but i will do a full review of these soon. I won't use these as a single eyeshadow but more as a base. From my swatches they seem highly pigmented so i can't wait to try these out with different looks. I'll be posting a full review soon.

In natural sunlight and with flash

Mac Blue Brown Pigment - £15.50, 4.5g

Introducing the b.e.a.uuuutiful first MAC pigment I own... 

This is the new love of my makeup life, blue brown! Blue brown is such an intriguing, i first laid eyes on it when someone swatched it and said it was an exact dupe for Wet'N'Wild Comfort Zone palette, i tried to find it online but couldn't find it so i went and bought this, and I'm so happy i did! At first glance it really looks like purple/reddy brown with green sparkles and i can't see the blue until i really pack it on. It really brings out the green in my hazel eyes but i can imagine it looking gorgeous on blue eyes too. Today i wore it in the day, although i think this is a daring day time look but I've worn it for a night out a few times pairing it with burgundy or mustard yellow (sounds gross) outfits and it looked really nice... if i say so myself!

Onto the swatches...

Yes, it was necessary to take five pictures! (Although i had more than ten because its so pretty) i wanted to capture the duo chrome and the fine small blue-green sparkles. As you can see, in flash the duo chrome is more pronounced but in natural sunlight it looks more purple/brown. Also when i rubbed it in a bit (last picture) you can see the effect of the different colours despite the glitter which i really like for daytime looks. I love how in certain lights the sparkles are captured... its just so pretty

i can't believe i forgot to put on mascara grr!

These are swatches taken in natural sunlight and with flash. In natural sunlight it looks like a dark brown but with flash it looks more like a rusty/brick brown. I pack it on with a firm eye shadow brush, add some Nehru or Twinks to the outer crease and then pack some more pigment in the middle. I haven't tried it with my ELF cream base yet but when ill do i'll make sure to post a FOTD/N. From purchasing this i know what the hypes about with MAC pigments and i'm tempted to buy a little collection.

With Jess sporting my Blue Brown Pigment and mustard yellow skirt!

NARS Strada Eyeshadow 2.2g, £16.50

Strada is such a beautiful lilac purple with fine gold sparkles. When i first swatched this in SPACE NK i wanted it straight away but resisted my urge to get it, which I'm so glad as i could never justify spending £16.50 on a single eyeshadow! I haven't had a chance to play around with it yet but I'm looking forward to doing so many FOTD/N so watch this space!

with flash and natural sunlight

Sopha's Laura Mercier goodies

Me and Lesley went foundation shopping to the Bentall center. Lesley wanted to try out all the beauty counters to see what they would match her to and hopefully find a good one. Im always on a mission for the perfect foundation so i had to go with her!

First was the Mac counter where Lesley got matched to nw30 studio sculpt (im nw20). I thought it looked slightly too warm on her skin but the coverage was good.

Next up Bobbi Brown. The make up artist was friendly and asked lots of questions about her skin and coverage Lesley wanted. I thought she would reccomend Skin Foundation as she has dry skin but she matched her with Natural Finish long lasting 4.5. The colour was really good but Lesley wasn't sold.

The next counter was awful. Chanel is high end make up so you expect friendly and helpful makeup artists. This girl wasnt friendly and looked down on us. She tested a tiny blob on our chins and that was it? I got matched to Matte Lumiere shade 20 and Lesley is Vita Lumiere i think shade30? No way was i going to buy expensive makeup from her!

We were going back to the Bobbi Brown counter and we remembered Laura Mercier. The Make up Artist was soo lovely! Her name is Naiyana and she's just a gorgeous friendly make up artist. We stayed with her for nearly 2 hours while she throughly cleansed ours faces, told us what would match out skin and how to apply the products. She had no other customers and did our whole face with make up.

Naiyana reccomended the oil free tinted moisturizer in Nude and the mineral pressed powder in Natural Beige to add more coverage and colour. She said i must use a primer as i have oily skin and take powder with me in the day to matte the oil. My face looked really fresh and natural when she had finished the make over so i bought both...oops.

This my attempt the next day with the products. I tried to do exactly as she said, pat on the tinted mosturizer and lightly dust the powder. I think my skin looks like my skin but better which is theeffect i like, i dont like the caked on mask look. BUT im now sitting here 4 hours later and my face is very oily :( it looks nothing like that picture now. Im going to re-apply with a differnt primer to see if that helps.fingers crossed.

Testers!! I love testers lol from left to right :

Warm ivory foundation = She said this would be a good colour for me but way too shiny for a nigh out.

Oil free primer = A must have for my oily skin! Not sure if its good enough yet though

Face Polish = For my blocked pores. I love this. Its so scrubby but the bits are realy fine. I want!

Oil Free tinted Moisturizer = Just so i can test it out, even though i forgot and opened the full size :/


Ill update this post with a verdict in the next few days!

Lesley on my first foundation yaaay!

Today i went shopping with Sophia for my first foundation. I don't own any foundation (just my tinted moisturiser) and i was looking for something that had medium coverage but with a dewy look. Also, i tend to have dry spots around my nose and forehead. I took my sweet little time going from MAC (i discovered I'm a NW30 yay!) to Bobbi Brown, Chanel and last but not least Laura Mercier. In the end we decided on Laura Mericer was the best coverage, and best ingredients, for my face. The makeup beautician was so lovely and we actually spent two hours with her. She did a little makeover on us and really took her time talking and advising us. I think it honestly makes a difference to their sales: the girl on the Chanel counter was just awful and did a blob with one foundation on my chin and told me i was done! Not very helpful to say the least!

 My shade is "Golden Beige" and it is 30g. It comes in a tub instead of a pump or tube and the beautician told me it was best to use fingers with a tiny amount and blot it on the centre of my face and then even it out. Then to use a second layer to build it up. As it is quite thick it is best to use a small amount and layer it on. I really like this because although it gives  coverage, looks natural and doesn't cake my face. It was quite pricey at £41.50 but its meant to last you a year, and i will probably only use it in winter months when i need more coverage. The only negative thing i have to say is it creased under my eye so ill have to put extra setting powder.

My generous amount of samples! Oil free day lotion, Sand oil free tinted moisturiser and oil free primer. 

Samples -

Sand oil free tinted moisturiser - After exfoliating and putting on my moisturiser, i put this on with my hand, concentrating on blotting my t-zone then blending it out. I love the end result it gave me! It is a bit of a warm colour on me compared to the yellow golden tone in Benefit's You Rebel, but my face looks so velvety smooth and i couldn't see any of my red cheeks or dry spots underneath. i looked like a blank canvas which I'm not actually used to as You Rebel doesn't give as much coverage. It quite a thick coverage for a tinted moisturiser so its a nice transition from tinted moisturiser to foundation. Do i dare say it might be better than You Rebel?!?!

 I wore it to work for seven hours, without primer and setting powder and it has rubbed off a bit but still looks OK. Well i don't know what i expected as i always rub or lean my hand on my face during the day, its such a bad habit of mine! Also my face is a little dry on my nose, but i think that is due to my moisturiser, i may need to throw it away soon. After test driving it for a few days I've decided i really like it, although I'm not used to seeing a warm colour on my face, and i need more practicing with blending it in with my fingers. Also less is definitely more, its gone on my wish list!

Oil Free Primer - It doesn't feel anything like the Elf Primer I'm using, its texture is more like a cream and is slightly thicker than the day lotion. Where as the ELF primer feels like a velvety serum. I'm not sure if i would actually buy this product, it doesn't make a difference to how long my makeup stays on. However, i will give it a good test run and try it with other products.

Oil free Day Lotion- This is a lovely light day lotion, i love putting it on before the tinted moisturiser. It doesn't leave my skin shiny and makes me feel like i have a lovely dewy glow rather than a greasy look that other day creams do to me. However, it doesn't leave my nose moisturise all day and i see a few flakes at the end of a long day. I think i would buy this after my other creams run out.