New Nails: Purple Ombre

Models Own Purple Passion / Illamasqua Jo'mina / Models Own Lilac Dream
Topshop Parma Violet / Models Own Utopia
I'm not really a fan of ombre hair but I'm totally loving ombre nails. Its such an easy way to make your nails look a little bit special. The only hard part is rummaging through all your nail polishes to find a good gradient of colour. I am also in love with this dia de los muertos style skull ring from Galibardy. They've got some fab rings in at the moment, I wish I could buy them all!

Soap & Glory Glow All Out

The other day I was in Boots and saw that in place of the Prestige stand there was a new range of Soap & Glory cosmetics. I swatched a few things on my hand but the one thing that stood out to me was the Glow All Out Luminizing Radiance Face Powder. I'm a bit obsessed with illuminators and when I tried it on my hand it looked like a beautiful iridescent pink highlighter. So I bought it and I have to say I'm a little disappointed.

First of all the outer packaging looks really great. Flashy, gold, cute, retro, typical of the Soap & Glory aesthetic. But once you open it up the actual product is in a fairly non-glamourous cardboard compact. It feels fairly cheap in your hand although it is light to carry about & does have a mirror which is always a bonus. The embossed logo on the powder is a nice touch. The back of the product tells you to 'Sweep a brush lightly across powder surface, then dust lightly onto your face, neck & shoulders'. Once I swatched it on my arm at home it became apparent that it wasn't going to work as a highlighter on me. So I got out a blush brush and applied it as a normal blusher. The fallout in the compact is really bad so I'm not expecting it to last a very long time. However once applied as a blush it actually looks quite nice. It gives me a really natural peachy glow. I think I'm just too pale for this product. I imagine that on anyone darker than me (which is probably 90% of the world) this would work really well as a way of adding a glow to your face & body. But for me this is a nice way of adding a healthy glow to my otherwise vampiric pallor.

September Favourites

HD Brows Kit
As everyone knows these babies were sent out in the September GlossyBox. I was so happy to receive this item as I've wanted to get an HD Brows treatment for ages now. I got sent Foxy which is meant for brunettes but as my eyebrows are naturally so dark I can just about get away with using the ash shade in the bottom right corner. The other colours in the palette are far too warm for me. I would've preferred the one for blondes but oh wells. The powders are highly pigmented and last all day. You need a light hand to apply this as its so easy to overdo your brows. I don't really rate the little brush that came with the kit as I think a firmer brush is required to really do your eyebrows properly. This really is a great little kit though, well worth the GlossyBox subscription fee. As long as you get the right set of shades for you then it'll work perfectly and if you don't, they double up as some rather lovely matte eyeshadows.

Sigma F80
I'm sure everyone has already read about a million reviews of this brush, after all thats what made me want to purchase one myself. I bought it mainly to apply my Illamasqua Skin Base foundation with as I wanted to see if there was anything that would blend it better than the MAC 187 brush. This certainly makes the application a lot quicker and makes it look even more flawless than usual. I love dense the bristles are which makes it really good for buffing in makeup. A great partner for a great foundation.

Aveeno Cream
Finally cracked what was causing my eczema to flare up: our leather sofas! Apparently there was some kind of spray used on certain leather sofas which can cause eczema & rashes in lots of people. So I've made sure theres always a throw on top to protect my legs with & as well as using my Neal's Yard Stellaria cream I started using this Aveeno Cream. It contains Collodial Oatmeal which is really good for moisturising anywhere on your body. It has also helped to fade the scarring of where the rash was. I love the smell of it too.

L'Oreal Professionnel Serie Expert Silver Shampoo
I try a hell of a lot of different silver shampoos in order to keep my hair as white as possible. I always find that if I leave them on for too long they end up toning my hair pink or purple. This one is the holy grail of silver shampoos. It doesn't make my hair turn any colour other than proper silver. It costs about a tenner so its a bit more expensive than some of them out there but it works so much better. If you want really white hair, this is the one to get.

Charles Worthington Salon At Home Strength & Repair Kit
I only bought this because Boots were selling it for £13 instead of the RRP of £20. My hair has been coming out loads lately & its starting to feel a bit fine. I think its because the bleach is starting to take its toll. I figured that maybe this could help. It contains some hair repair oil, 4 shower caps, shampoo & conditioner, so theres enough there for 4 applications. You cover your hair with the oil & put a shower cap on top. Then leave it for about 10 mins or more if you want it to penetrate deeper. You then wash your hair with the shampoo & conditioner which you leave on for 5 mins. It leaves my hair feeling really soft, strong & thicker too. The amount of hair I lose each day has noticeably decreased since I started using this treatment. I think once my pack runs out I'll be buying another box but I'll probably buy it now while its still on offer.



Chai Tea Lattes
I am a total Starbucks addict & find it hard to walk past one without going in for my usual grande caramel macchiato. If I eat in I always get a cinnamon roll & an equally sweet chai tea latte. However there are no Starbucks in Huddersfield (I know right, what fresh hell is this?!) so I have to get my fix at home. Pretty much every supermarket sells Drink Me Chai's Spiced Chai Latte and it is amazing. If you've never had a Chai Latte before its basically like normal tea but with sweet spices to give it a nice kick. Its so similar to the one Starbucks do but super cheap. I like mine in a massive spotty Emma Bridgewater mug.

New Barry M Lipsticks & Foil Polishes

The other day on twitter I saw that Barry M had 20% off all of their products. Considering that they had some new things out I decided to indulge my cosmetics addiction so I ordered their new foil nail polishes and their two new lipsticks. They also have two new blushers out but I already have more pink & peach colours than I can count so I gave them a miss. The foil polishes have been marketed under the 'Nail Effects' moniker which also includes those god awful crackle polishes. I think I read somewhere that Barry M said that these gold & silver foils are supposed to produce a proper metallic effect such as with the metallic Minx foils. But as you can see these polishes aren't anything special at all. They're bog standard gold & silver polishes. So I don't really understand why they're part of the Nail Effects line. I didn't actually have a normal silver polish in my collection so its a welcome addition but they are most definitely not like Minx at all. They are however pretty good quality, opaque in one coat & fairly quick drying.







The new lipsticks available are 154 Pale Nude & 155 Pretty Pink. I'm a lot happier with my new lippies than my polishes. I think these must be a new formula for Barry M because they actually feel quite moisturising on my lips. The nude is a bit unforgiving with any dry skin on your lips but it feels a lot silkier & glides on a lot easier than my other Barry M lipsticks. I tend not to go for overly pale nude colours but I'm happy with this purchase as I think the tone is just the right side of dead concealer lips. It reminds me of a paler version of MAC Shy Girl. The pink also reminds me of another MAC lippie, I think it looks like a slightly warmer version of Saint Germain. Both of these get a big thumbs up from me!

PS. I probably look a bit weird in these pics because I decided to try out the new Garnier BB cream, a Daniel Sandler mascara from a GlossyBox & I don't have any eyeliner on. I actually really like the BB cream for those 'no makeup' looks but the mascara is rubbish, it went straight in the bin!

Natural Collection Pink Mallow Lipstick

I've never actually looked at the Natural Collection stand in Boots before. I tend to have it in my head that cheap makeup normally means bad makeup. Feeling poor but in need of a treat, I purchased one of their Moisture Shine lipsticks in the shade Pink Mallow. Its a midtone pink that is highly pigmented & fairly long lasting. I only needed to reapply it after eating or drinking. It feels quite moisturising on my lips & I didn't need to apply Carmex beforehand which is something I often have to do with other lipsticks. Its a perfect pink for day wear & it has found a place amongst the other lippies in my everyday makeup bag (MAC Hue, Angel, Creme Cup & Shy Girl). It cost something ridiculously cheap like £2 & theres even a 3 for 2 offer on at the moment so you can get 3 good quality lipsticks for under a fiver. Not bad Boots, not bad at all.

What other cheapie lippies do you rate?