Beauxoxo indie brand giveaway prize ^_^


I was lucky enough to recently win a giveaway by hair accessory brand Beauxoxo. I'm not usually very lucky with giveaways, and i was in bed with tonsillitis when i found out i'd won- so it cheered my up a lot!  My prize arrived wrapped in glittery tissue paper, and was a bag filled with lovely things from different indie brands... I am a big fan of indie brands, and have found some lovely new ones!


Here is the contents of the bag with some extra sweets ^_^ everything was wrapped beautifully.


I love this ring- it's from Jimmy & His Girl (it's called the Katy ring in Lapis Lazuli Blue £15)


This cute Ice Cream brooch is from Love From Hetty and Dave  They make all sorts of cute handmade leather accessories. I love their cherry shoes :)


These two pieces from Megan Jane Jewellery came in a blue organza bag. I got some cute heart button studs, and a rose ring.


These Elsie Belle pieces came in the loveliest boxes. I got a lovely swallow necklace (£13.95), and cute glass windmill stud earrings (£7.95).


Next up this necklace that has a small glass bottle filled with hearts (and the bag was filled with lavender), but sadly i don't know the brand it's by. Beside it is a super cute cat ring from I Love Crafty (£6.50) although this one is mega small. They have some amazing jewellery though- i feel a purchase coming on!


I love this giant hair bow and floral hair scarf from Beauxoxo, I have been admiring their pieces for ages- i love their dolly mixture and glitter bows. I have a bit of an obsession with hair bows so these were definitely my favourite from the bag :)


The final things were a Macaroon Bath Melt (£2.20) from Miss Patisserie (and their shop has so many amazing things! Cupcake Bath Bakes!) and a Lush eyeliner in Motivation- a lovely turquoise blue (and my first ever product from Lush!)

Also included was a sample of Steamcream, and some cards for some more indie brands that i plan to check out: Velvet Volcano and Jewellery By Jaymie.


Holika Holika Peach Girl BB Cream Review



Todays post is on the Holika Holika Peach Girl BB Cream. Since I started using this I've been wanting to do a post on it, it's most definitely the best BB cream I've tried so far.

Aside from having the cutest packaging ever, it also has SPF37, and a cream lip and cheek colour in the lid.


I got mine in the lightest shade (there are only 2 shades, light & natural). I apply it with my Real Techniques stippling brush and it requires minimal blending. The coverage is amazing! It covers spots, and neutralises my redness perfectly without feeling really heavy or mask-like (I find this is the case with all fuller coverage foundations I've tried).

It lasts all day for me, without any oxidation (it doesn't turn orange as the day goes on) and doesn't encourage oiliness (although doesn't prevent it either). The lip and cheek colour is a nice bright peach coloured cream, which blends in to a nice subtle hint of colour.

I really can't find any bad points about this at all! This is officially my go to face product (ノ◔ヮ◔)ノ*: ・゚'✿゚・❀,。 woo!


Etude House Apricot Stick...



Today I wanted to share another great product from Etude House. The Apricot Stick is a twist up tinted lip balm, that claims to moisturise lips whilst giving a vivid wash of colour.

The shade I have is 03 Fresh Apple (and yes, it does smell of apple!). Each of the eight shades are named (and scented) after a different fruit (but I'm still confused over the apricot!), Fresh Apple is a rosy red.

The texture is probably my favourite thing about this, and Etude House describe it perfectly as a 'Kiss & Melt Complex' that has a  'gloss texture that melts on skin contact to bind and supply glossiness to lips'. When applied it really does feel like it's melting into your lips, giving a non sticky glossy finish.

The colour pay off is good, and this is a great product to throw in your bag. Thumbs up from me!


I bought mine on ebay for around £4. Rather than going mad for the Maybelline Baby Lips i'd recommend picking up one of these instead! ^_^

Tony Moly Hello Bunny Perfume Bar...


This is possibly the cutes perfume packaging ever! Which is the main reason I bought it on one of my many 'just having a quick look on ebay...2 hours later'.

This is the Tony Moly Hello Bunny perfume bar, and it cost around the £5 mark. There are five different scents to choose from each with a different colour and facial expression. I chose 03 Dodo Rose. Not only because it was the cutest one (and pink) but because the scent is mainly rose :)


The stick is small enough to fit in your hand, and great for carrying round. You twist up the bottom to get your solid perfume. The perfume itself isn't too greasy but also isn't rock solid (if that makes sense!) It dries quickly and leaves a nice scent that lasts well.

The scent itself is lovely! It's not too overpowering and Is a soft powdery rose, with a hint of muskiness. It's described to have top notes of ginger and grapefruit, but personally I don't smell the ginger. I can also smell peach in there too.


I think the next one on my wish list is definitely 01 Bebe Powder, because I love anything that smells of vanilla. In honesty, I think these are worth it for the cute factor alone- fortunately they happen to be a great product too! Yay!  .゚٩(๑>◡<๑)۶:.。+゚

You can find them here on ebay. I'm not connected to this seller in any way, but I shop with them a lot and I've never had any problems and they are always generous with samples :)

New Korean make up purchases...




Here's my latest Korean make up buys... My first Etude House BB cream Dear Girls Be Clear BB cream (I also really want to try their latest one from the Bling in the Sea collection). Speaking of Bling in the Sea I got one of the nail polishes in 05, and also a Water Colour Blusher in 04 Lilac which already from the swatch looks amazing.

Once I've properly tried these out I will post some reviews ^_^

Look Beauty Lip Liners...


Today I thought I'd share with you one of my favourite make up products, and certainly my favourite brand for lip liners: the Look Beauty Loud Lip Liners.

Although these retail for £4 each, I've bought all of these during half price sales (they often have them online) So they were a bargain at £2 each :)



The Loud Lip liners come in a nice selection of shades, that also have a matching Loud Lips lipstick each (another great product!) They have a cute and simple design, with a creamy formula. I like the fact these pencils sharpen, so you can get a good point for sharper, neater liner. The crayon type liners are terrible for this.

I find these are great for colouring the whole lip with, as they are so creamy they don't dry out the lip and the pigmentation is amazing too. They work brilliantly on their own, but make great liners- they blend easily and last well. They are fairly matte so make a great alternative to the lipstick versions of the shade for fellow matte lip fans.


The shades I have (l-r):
Toffee Cup: Creamy soft nude
Tangerine Cream: a light peachy apricot 
Petal Nude: muted pink toned nude
Baby Doll: soft pink
Rock Candy: blue toned hot pink
Hyper Melon: coral red
Cherry Bomb: blue toned deep red (my personal favourite!)

Anyone else love these?

Illamasqua sales order...


Since today is my Birthday, and Illamasqua had a sale on last week (can you tell I'm clutching at excuses ha) I decided to treat myself to some things. I've never bought anything from Illamasqua directly before, but love the few things of theirs I have.

 
Their sale had some amazing bargains considering their prices usually tend to be on the high side. I chose a powder eyeshadow in Creep for £5 (normally £15.50), a Cream Pigment in Androgen for £7.50 (usually £17.50), and the Fundamental Palette for £10 (usually £34). The prices have now all gone back up, and I am very pleased with my savings.


The products themselves are beautifully packaged in the trademark black glossy gothic style. Creep is a matte lavender colour, whilst Androgen is a lovely soft pink. As with all Illamasqua products the quality and pigmentation is amazing.


The Fundamental Palette features 2 powder eyeshadows in Inception & Hype (a matte sunshine yellow, and rich purple), a cream pigment in Bedaub (a mint green), and liquid metal in Surge (a pewter colour). I can't wait to have a play with this. This will be my first yellow eyeshadow, and although usually I'm not a fan of yellow I can't help but be drawn to this shade!

I also added a S.O.P.H.I.E wrist band to my order which stands for Stamp. Out. Prejudice. Hatred and Intolerance. Everywhere. (the full £3 goes to the Sophie Lancaster Foundation) and is a more than worthy cause. If you haven't heard about it read about it here.

Bargain make up buys...


The other day I had my usual wander round the bargain shops and thought I'd show you the make up items I picked up :)

Firstly in B&M I found a load of Rimmel Match Perfection cream foundation compacts for the bargain of £2.99! I've been wanting to try this for a while after i fell in love with the Rimmel Match Perfection creamy compact powder (review here). This can be found in Boots & Superdrug for £7.49 and I got the shade ivory. I also noticed B&M had Revlon Photo Ready compacts too.

In Poundland they had even more Rimmel bargains with the Wake Me Up Shimmer Touch (rrp £4.99) in Shimmering Sands. It's a lovely peachy gold. I also got an Exaggerate Lip liner in Pure (rrp £3.99) which is a nice muted red.


Also I Poundland they had lots of Famous by Sue Moxley cosmetics (I think the brand is no more) I already have an eye shadow palette which I love so picked up a couple of single shadows. They are really creamy and pigmented.

Finally, I got a nail polish that has cute pink hearts in :) they had these in all sorts of colours.

Anyone else a bargain fan?!

NOTD: Barry M Confetti nail Effect Bubblegum


I love the confetti nails that are doing the rounds at the moment, here is Barry M in Bubblegum (is it me or does the name not suit the colour at all?) with Barry M Cobalt Blue as a base. It makes for a really vibrant nail!

Soap & Glory Wowed Mouth Palette

 
The Soap & Glory Wowed Mouth Lip palette was released last Christmas, and is no longer available so this post may seem very pointless...but! All the lip shades are from the permanent line of Super Colour Fabu-lipsticks.



The palette has a nice selection of pinks, nudes and reds. All the shades are fairly subtle every day colours. The finish gives a nice glossy lip.


The pigmentation isn't amazing. The above swatches took a lot of layers to show up that well, and the same applies when on the lips. The texture also isn't anything special, it's not particularly creamy- and although it's not drying, it doesn't feel overly moisturising. Compared to other lipsticks I own (there are many!) this palette doesn't make me want to go and buy a full sized version of any of these shades.


Overall, a nice palette but nothing special.
Have you tried the Soap & Glory lipsticks?

Models Own Splash polishes: Review, swatches and alternative


When it comes to nail polish, if it's glittery the chances are I won't be able to resist. So when I saw the Splash collection from Models Own looking sparkly and lovely in their little bottles I bought 2 shades to try. Mermaid Tears (love that name!) the purple shade, and Pink Paradise.


I've read nothing but glowing reviews about these, but I must admit I was totally disappointed. When I tried these I realised the colour of the polish is completely sheer on the nail, and in fact the only difference in each shade is the iridescent pieces are a slightly different colour!  When layered over another colour polish (which they need to be to show up) you can barely tell which shade you've used....

I decided to compare them to Snowflake from the Winter Wonderland collection, which is essentially the same as the splash polishes without the colour.


As you can see from the swatches above it is hard to tell the difference between the 3. My advice is don't splash out on the 5 shades in the Splash collection (apols for terrible pun) and just get Snowflake instead!

Have you tried these?