Christmas - Benefit - Countdown to Love - Day 15

It's Day 15!! 

Today's gift for Day 15 is Benefit's 'PosieTint' lip and cheek stain. I love this little sample - it's super cute at 2.5mls.

(Apologies for the chipped nail varnish - they're being repainted TODAY!!

I am really intrigued by this product. It's super cute and is such a lovely shade of pink - Benefit describe this as a 'poppy pink' stain. I haven't tried any pink stains before, only ever red ones. I haven't tried this out yet, but I'm hoping it will leave a cute pink sheen. I think this will definitely be lovely for a lip stain!

The full size version of this is 12.5 g and retails at £24.50. This is a very mini version of the product. I'm excited to try this!  Purchase price would be £4.90. I think that these tints are quite expensive really and as I think I mentioned before, if rather spend money on a good blush and a good lip stick or gloss, than get something I didn't love for this price. If it is good however, combining the two is of course a fab idea. We will see.

Have any of you tried this? Opinions?

Hope you've enjoyed reading! 10 more sleeps!

LL x  

Naked 3 - Availability!

So, the Naked 3 palette has caused me some confusion!! 

I had thought release date was 16 December, this Monday and Suzy, over at CynicalSuzy, had thought that it was 21st December! 

We went Xmas shopping yesterday and we were told that the must have product was actually released on THURSDAY last week!!!!! Gutted!

I had a peek online and couldn't find it anywhere, all the shops were sold out and we were a little disheartened.

This morning I decided to have another peek online and Debenhams online have this in stock!! It's safe to say that I have now purchased mine! Yay!! 

If you are on the look out for this, head over to Debenhams ASAP! It's retailing at £37.00 and delivery is free if you spend over £30, so no delivery costs either! Don't forget to register your Debenhams Beauty Club Card for your 111 points. 

Exciting! Have you picked up yours? 

Roll on Xmas day! 

Hope you enjoyed reading.

LL x

Christmas - Benefit - Countdown to Love - Day 14

DAY 14 has arrived - who can believe how fast these days are going? I hope you're all doing well with your Xmas shopping!!! ☺️

Today's gift for Day 14 is Benefit's 'Bad Gal Lash Mascara'. This is a 4ml sample of this mascara.

When I opened the sample I was shocked at how large the head of the wand is on this one! It has a large bristle head. I have tried this out today and I do think that this one is good. I was a little confused when I first opened it as I was mistaking the BadGal Lash Mascara for the 'They're Real'. I would have loved to have seen a sample of this in today's window.  The coverage is good, I found that it applied evenly and did give a good colour to the lashes. It did require a few coats before it really helped keep a shape and looked enough. I am used to almost instant coverage with my Maybelline Rocket Volum' Mascara which I love! 

The full size version of this is 14 g and retails at £17.50. This is a kind of middle of the range pricing for a mascara.  Purchase price would be £5.00. I usually pay around £7-£8 for a high street mascara, and from one use, I don't think I will be changing over to this as my regular use. You never know though, it may change my mind following more uses - we'll see.

 

Hope you've enjoyed reading! 11 more sleeps!

LL x  

Christmas - Benefit - Countdown to Love - Day 13

Welcome to Day 13 of my Christmas Advent Calendar!

Today's gift for Day 13 is a little 'charm bracelet'. As you can see from the photo below, this has a teeny horse shoe charm on a thin band.

As with my other non-make up item on Day 6, I was a little disappointed with this one, but as a beauty blogger, I want to be seeing products I want to try and buy! I think there are a few other products that Benefit could have included, in place of these non make up items. At the end of the day though, I think there are only 3 non make up items all together. I maintain that I would prefer more make up - wouldn't we all??

As with Day 6, I cant give any pricing update, just a little photo. I think I'll probably give this to my niece next time I see her. It's a little too 'young' for Benefit's target audience in my opinion.

Hope you've enjoyed reading! 12 sleeps to Christmas!

LL x

Christmas - Benefit - Countdown to Love - Day 12

DAY 12 is here! We are HALF WAY THROUGH!!!! I can't believe it!!

Today's gift for Day 12 is from Benefit's skincare range - Total Moisture Facial Cream. This weighs in at 8.9g.

I haven't tried this one before, but I have Tried the triple performance facial emulsion. I am excited to try this. I feel that I can never really get a good amount of product to do a testing period, maybe this will allow that! I also love the packaging. The tubs are super cute! Definitely handy for taking out with you (if you are going away for the weekend/night etc). 

The full size version of this is 48.2g and retails at £27.50, the most expensive of the full size products to date in the calendar. I'm not surprised at the price, quality skincare products are similar prices and I think it's to be expected. Purchase price for this mini sample would be £15.60. This moisturiser is more expensive that the triple performing facial emulsion and the cream is much thicker. I'm looking forward to trying, as I am in dire need of a skin compatible moisturiser! 

 

Hope you've enjoyed reading! 13 more sleeps!

LL x  

Christmas - Benefit - Countdown to Love - Day 11

DAY 11 has arrived and my little gift today did not disappoint!

Today's gift for Day 11 is Benefit's 'Bad Gal Waterproof Liner'. This is a super cute mini 0.5g pencil.

Some people like to have a long pencil to apply eyeliner with, but because I am only small and have small hands, I have much more control with a smaller pencil. This one is super cute and is 'extra black' so the colour is fab. So far, I like it - there isn't all that much to be said about an 'extra black' pencil eyeliner really.. It's good, no dragging along the skin, which is a definite plus. I haven't tested its waterproof-ness yet.

 

The full size version of this is 1.2 g and retails at £15.00. This is just under the size of the full price product. I really like it.  Purchase price would be £6.25. I think that this price is pretty expensive for a pencil - I like the Avon Super Shock eyeliner which is one of my faves and that's £6.00 and Avon frequently have 1/2 price offers, so I think I would probably stick to this - I rarely repurchase pencil eyeliner - they last so long. 
 

Hope you've enjoyed reading! 14 more sleeps!

LL x  

Christmas - Benefit - Countdown to Love - Day 10

DAY 10 is upon us! Happy Tuesday! 

Today's gift for Day 10 is a Benefit product that EVERYONE has heard of - The 'POREfessional' primer. This sample is  7.5 mls.

 

 

 

As the name suggests, this is a delightful skin primer, worn under make up and over moisturiser, to help keep that make up in place all day. I have heard lots of good things about this and I have a little one use tester that I have never used (I appear to have been saving that for a rainy day..). I have heard conflicting reviews for this product in the past and I know that there has been a lot of talk about this being a must have product, so I definitely want to see whether this will live up to the hype.

The full size version of this is 22 mls and retails at £24.50. This is therefore, just over half the size of a full price product and a very good size sample. Purchase price would be £8.35. As with most primers, a little is usually more than enough so we will see whether this is worth the repurchase at that price.
 

Hope you've enjoyed reading! ONLY 15 more sleeps to Christmas! I hope Santa remembers my Naked 3 palette. eek!!

LL x  

Christmas - Benefit - Countdown to Love - Day 9

A big hello to Day 9! 

Today's gift for Day 9 Benefit's 'That Gal' primer. This sample is very cute at just  7.5 mls.

This is a primer and can be used as a base, under foundation or just to add 'brightness' to the skin on its own. I haven't heard much about this, although I believe it is one of their best products. We will certainly see! 

The full size version of this is 11 mls and retails at £22.50. This is therefore, just over half the size of a full price product and a very good size sample. Purchase price would be £15.30. I think that this is enough for me to be honest. I'm looking forward to testing this!

Hope you've enjoyed reading! 16 sleeps to Christmas! EXCITING!

LL x  

Christmas - Benefit - Countdown to Love - Day 8

Time for the start of week 2, Day 8! 

Today's gift for Day 8 is Benefit's extremely popular 'HighBeam' highlighter - or luminescent complexion enhancer, as the packaging states. This sample is very cute at just 2.5mls.

This is one of the products I have almost purchased about 10 times, but I never have. I have highlighters in my make up collection anyway, but I have always been intrigued by this one. I don't quite know why really. So it's safe to say that I'm really looking forward to trying this out! It's a pink liquid, that comes in a small tube, it has a lipgloss or nail varnish style  wand to apply. I like this as it will give a lovely direct and accurate application to the cheek bones, brow bones or where ever else you choose to highlight! 

The full size version of this is 13 mls and retails at £19.50. This teeny sample is 2.5mls and therefore, purchase price would be £3.75. I think that this is enough for me to be honest. If you purchased full size, I can imagine that it would last a super long time! It's not like you need tonnes of it when applying.

Hope you've enjoyed reading! 17 sleeps to Christmas!

LL x  

Christmas - Benefit - Countdown to Love - Day 7

Day 7, we are one week in!! 

Today's gift for Day 7 is Benefit's Ultra Plush Lip Gloss in 'A-Lister'. This sample is 6.5mls.

 I really like this! The colour of this is marketed as 'bubblegum pink'. I would say it's more of a pale pink, it's quite subtle and leaves a gentle colour with lovely soft texture. It feels super silky and glides on. It's lovely. I love the packaging of this too - it's super cute and it fits in perfectly with the Benefit range as a whole - they market and package their brand so well. 

The full size version of this is 15 mls and retails at £14.50. This cute sample is 6.5mls and therefore, purchase price would be £6.25! Im very pleased with the size of this and it's great for popping into your clutch bag for a night out!

Hope you've enjoyed reading! 18 sleeps to Christmas!

LL x

Christmas - Benefit - Countdown to Love - Day 6

Welcome to Day 6 of my Christmas Advent Calendar!

 

Today's gift for Day 6 is actually a little hair accessory. As you can see from the photo below, this is a cute little slide. The little white bow is super cute.

 

I must say, I was a little disappointed with this one, but that's only because I love the make up gifts and I wanted more! (I'm a make up addict.. what can I say..hehe).

 

So overall, I cant give any pricing update, just the cute picture of the slide. I haven't tried this in my hair as yet, but I am going to a Christmas party tonight, so maybe I will choose to wear it. Who knows!

Hope you've enjoyed reading! 18 sleeps to Christmas!

 

LL x

Christmas - Benefit - Countdown to Love - Day 5

Day 5 has arrived! The days are whizzing by!

Today's gift for Day 5 is Benefit's 'Benetint' cheek and lip stain This sample is 2.5 mls.

This is a liquid 'stain' that would essentially act as a blush or lip colour.  I have heard that Benefit's version is good, but I have only ever tried Soap and Glory's cheekmate and I received a similar product in one of my birchboxes recently.  I have had some success with this kind of product before and I am looking forward to trying it! From my own trials, I have learned that the secret is to work quickly and blend as quickly as possible with the fingers which I have found is usually better than a brush!

The full size version of this is 12.5 mls and retails at £24.50. This little sample is 2.5mls and therefore, purchase price would be £4.90. I'm looking forward to trying this - so far all the reviews I have heard have been good. 

Hope you've enjoyed reading! 19 sleeps to Christmas!

LL x

Christmas - Benefit - Countdown to Love - Day 4

Day 4 is here! Happy Hump-day.

My 4th gift for Day 4 is Benefit's 'Dandelion' ultra plush lip gloss. This sample is 6.5 mls.

Sorry - the photo is a little dark here!

I must say, as with the rest of the Benefit Make up range, I have never tried the lipglosses and I love this one - a pearlescent pinky colour. It's not sticky at all and it's smells nice -although,  I can't really explain or place the scent.  It's lovely and leaves a shine to the lips. I have been wearing this for some time and it still feels moisturising - quite unusual for most lip glosses in my opinion.

The full size version of this is 15mls and retails at £14.50. This sample is larger than the others received so far at 6mls and therefore, purchase price would be £5.80. I'm impressed and this particular sample is the perfect little handbag size!

Hope you've enjoyed reading! 20 sleeps to Christmas!

LL x

Christmas - Benefit - Countdown to Love - Day 3

Day 3 has arrived! Happy Tuesday everyone.

My lovely gift for Day 3 is Benefit's 'It's Potent' eye cream. This sample is 3 mls.

This is a an eye cream that claims to fade dark circles and reduce fine lines for younger, brighter looking skin. I have tried this before and I do like it! It's lovely and massages into the skin easily, leaving no residue or sticky feeling.

The full size version of this is 14.2mls and retails at £24.50. This little sample is 3mls and therefore, purchase price would be £5.15. A lovely little treat and very cute packaging!

Hope you've enjoyed reading! 21 sleeps to Christmas!

LL x

Christmas - Benefit - Countdown to Love - Day 2

Day 2 is upon us.

 

 

My lovely gift for Day 2 is Benefit's 'Stay Don't Stray Eye and Concealer Primer. This is a dinky samples, at just 2.5 mls.

 

This a light to medium colour, the colour I would have chosen had I purchased and I am sure will blend to a barely visible colour, as most eye primers do. I do wish the sample was a little bit bigger, but when you use a old primer, you barely use any of the product anyway.. It''s certainly enough to give you an idea about the product . It will have to be super duper to pull me away from my go to eye primer by Urban Decay, especially given the pricing below.

The full size version of this is 10mls and retails at £20.50. This little sample is 2.5mls and therefore, purchase price would be £5.12. I'm looking forward to trying it out!

 

Hope you've enjoyed reading! 23 sleeps to Christmas!

 

LL x

Christmas - Benefit - Countdown to Love - Day 1

It's finally time for Day 1 in the Countdown to Love (or Christmas in most of our cases).

As I may (or may not) have previously mentioned, I haven't ventured into the Benefit Make Up range previously and this is why I decided to grab one of these and try out some lovely samples of the products.

My lovely gift for Day 1 is Benefit's lovely 'Coralista' blusher.

This a perfect peachy shade, with a lovely shimmer that gives a highlighted look to the cheeks. I think it's lovely.

The full size version of this is 12grams and retails at £23.50. This little sample is 3grams and therefore, purchase price would be a little over £5.50. I'm impressed with the quality and I also personally think it smells lovely. Too.

Let's just say I am looking forward to Day 2 already!

Hope you've enjoyed reading and Happy 1st December - 24 sleeps to Christmas!

LL x

Urban Decay - Naked 3

So, rumours began and Ever since, I have been waiting anxiously for confirmation of this product's release! Finally, both The Sunday Girl and BritishBeautyBlogger have confirmed its existence and release! I am SO excited!

Those of you that follow me on Twitter, will be aware that I have received a HUGE number of Urban Decay products for my birthday and I am totally in love with them all so far. I must say, the quality of each of the products that I have tried and now own,  is lovely. I'm so impressed with them.

As a result. I cannot contain my excitement for this Urban Decay newcomer.

The tones are beautiful. With a rose/pink undertone to the shades. I especially love the look of the shade 'Buzz'. Perfect  colours that will be suitable all year around.  

Rumour has it that this will be released on 16 December at Debenhams and House of Fraser stores nationwide. Just in time for Christmas! Save the date!!

Hands up if you will be requesting one of these beauties from Santa this year!!  I know that I will be!

Thanks for reading!

LL x

Face Masks - Boots Tea Tree and Witch Hazel Peel Off Face Mask

My aim for November is to really nourish and replenish my skin. My skincare routine has been fab and filled with lovely products, but for some reason - my skin isn't happy. So, I am spending a little more time this month really trying to work out what the problems are and trying to care for my skin appropriately.

 

Now, one of the best ways of treating my skin, is with a lovely face mask. I'm a big fan of face masks.

Christmas - Benefit 'Countdown to Love' Beauty Advent Calendar

YES! Christmas is only 49 days away!!!!

The most exciting things for most Beauty Bloggers has been the Beauty Advent calendars. You will all know that the Beauty Advent Calendars are selling like hot cakes, with so many varieties, blogs are going to be filled with lots of miniature goodies throughout December.

This year, I have got my hands on the Benefit 'Countdown to Love' Advent Calendar this year. I am literally so excited.

Mascara - Bourjois Twist up the Volume Mascara

I was trailing the aisles of Boots recently (a too frequent occurrence!)- with no intent of making purchases, when this little novelty caught my eye.

As you all will know, if you have read my other posts - I LOVE mascara - an obsession initially started as a result of my lovely friend Suzy.. (not all her fault however.. haha). This was at a time when Bourjois was on offer, for the introductory price of £6.99 and I therefore treated myself and justified the purchase this way. I am always too ready to justify make up purchases with absurd excuses! Typical woman - typical make up addict - ha!

Nails - Rimmel Space Dust - Moonwalking

Today is my BIRTHDAY!! (*runs around doing birthday dance*)

Despite this, I had to share my new nail varnish love.. I have a new Rimmel 'SPACE DUST' nail varnish in my already huge nail collection and it is my absolute new favourite nail varnish of the moment.  

N.B. I must say, the only reason that I bought this on the day that I did, was because I was purchasing my new favourite lipstick - one of the Rimmel Moisture Drench family - and I wanted to spend £10 to get the lovely mascara for free. I love Rimmel Mascaras at the best of times and I am a mascara junkie - that's obvious from my picture of all of my mascaras that I posted on Twitter. I must have around 30 now.

Development - Change is Good

My Blog is undergoing a little renovation at the moment.

 

It's not very often that I get the chance to sit and sort my blog out, but with a little time on my hands this week, I am taking this opportunity to try and get back on top of this and have things how I want them, so there will be changes - only subtle ones, but you may notice them along the way.

 

I saw a tweet from the Lovely Bethan over at Miss Beauty Obsession, who is currently designing a new header for me, so watch this space.

Birthdays - Age is but a number..

It's my birthday tomorrow - I'll be 26 - and here I am, trying to convince myself that birthdays are not all that bad..

 

Throughout my life, I have really enjoyed my birthday - as in an opportunity to spend time with my family and enjoy the day - the presents have never been an important thing for me. I enjoy people all being happy and enjoying the day together. It seems a shame to me, that the only time some people make a real effort, is because it is a birthday - but even so, that one day is meant to be happy and filled with laughter.

Exfoliating - Michael Todd - Tropical Fruit Enzyme Exfoliant Scrub

So I have a new love in my little skin care world.

My best friend Suzy has introduced me to a brand that I had not heard of before and following her rave reviews both verbally and within the blogosphere (here) I have been completely drawn in and I have spent an absolute fortune.

I figured that there would be little point in only trying one aspect of the Michael Todd range, when, upon perusing their products, I wanted to try everything. Check the website out yourself here. I feel that it is hard not to be drawn in.

Hand Cream - Sharing the Soap and Glory Love

I absolutely love Soap and Glory.

I was introduced to the brand Soap and Glory and specifically this hand cream, by my future Mother in Law. This hand cream is one of her favourites and between us, there must be around 6 or 7 tubes of this around the house. Since my first use, I have absolutely loved this Soap and Glory hand cream and I truthfully am yet to find a hand cream that I prefer. This is just perfect.

Hair Masks - L'Oreal Elvive Triple Resist Mask

I popped into town today  with my fiancé, to buy a few bits and whilst I was browsing, I decided that I wanted to purchase a new hair mask. I have tried a couple, but never really stuck to one specific brand, as I don't use them very often, so I didn't have anything specific in mind.

 

We went into Bodycare, I always manage to get my essentials (like cotton face pads) from here and I had a peep around to see what was on offer.

 

There were very few to choose from in there, but I wasn't overly concerned on choice and I picked this up and read the packaging - it fit the bill and I made the purchase. Also, the smell is just lovely.

Weddings - Being a Bridesmaid...

So, some of you may have come across the fact that I am getting married (eventually...).

 

By way of background, my fiancé and I have been together for 9 1/2 years and we got engaged in October last year. We were only 16 when we started seeing each other and still at high school.

 

Mark and I have agreed that we will wait until we have bought our house and done some other grown up stuff - as in waiting for me to sort my career out (which will be completed next year!!) before we tie the knot. Not ideal - I have had wedding fever for the last 6 years (MINIMUM!). So the fun with planning continues for us, albeit this kind of also being on hold until next year.. It simply means that we get to revel in the planning a little longer. YAY!

Samples - Who doesn't love a freebie? (Benefit, E45, Clarins, Belle Pierre, Estee Lauder, Olay, Alpha H)

                           

 

I don't know about you, but I LOVE samples. As you can see from the photo, I have collected quite a few. These are just from the last 6-8 weeks.

 

I find that this is one this that Beauty Bloggers would love to have more of, to be able to try products before investing in them and spending hard earned cash on them, when you don't know whether 1 - they will agree with your skin and 2 - whether you will actually like and feel benefit from them.

Cleanliness - Cleaning Make Up Brushes

So I have now filled you all in on the wonders that are my make up brushes (I absolutely love them).

 

Given my constant use of these brushes, I need to ensure that they are clean and fresh for use on my skin. Any beauty blogger will understand the importance of a clean make up brush! It's just vital! Why apply beautiful products to your skin, if the brushes that you use are dirty and likely to affect your skin... Wasted time!

Real techniques - Starter Set - Eye Brushes

So this is blog 2/3 of my review of make up brushes and this review, is to cover the lovely Real Techniques Starter Set, that contains brushes for your EYES!

The Starter set comes with 5 brushes, all with purple handles and again, a lovely storage case. All brushes are used for various things on the eyes.

I use 3 of the 5 brushes regularly although all do have uses for me, which I like.

#theSOproject - Concealer

This week #theSOproject (brain child of Steph of Steph'sInsideVoice) will be covering CONCEALER.

 

This is a pretty dry topic really, I know some people don't use concealer at all, but I however - I LOVE THE STUFF! As a result, I can't guarantee this will be a short post as most expect!

 

I suffer with dark circles under my eyes - (in my opinion) I'm sure I make myself sound  like I have really dark miserable eyes, but I hope this is not the case. I think that I just make it sound worse because I obsess about it. Anyway,  as a result of my (possibly over the top) fixation, I have tried SO many different concealers over the years, in a hope that I will find one that is right for me and does the job.

Real Techniques - Core Collection

I am sure you have all heard of the Real Techniques make up brushes, created by Sam Chapman, one half of the lovely Pixiwoo, my YouTube No.1.

I must say, I adore Pixiwoo. I watch all of the videos and I talk about Sam and Nic as though I know them personally - sad I know. I think this is because I have spent so much time watching and learning from them. They obviously do not know me and we are not friends - this is sad.

I have gotten side tracked already.  

New Brands - MUA love

This brand is definitely not new to you all. But to me, it most certainly is. 

As you will know from my last post, this month I was going to try and stay away from any new make up purchases, but.. payday has just been and I have heard so much about this brand and so many positive comments that I couldn't resist.