Soap & Glory- Girl O Whirl Super Colour lip shades

After receiving this lovely Soap & glory make-up set from my mother at Christmas, I have avidly used it daily as I love adding a pop of colour to my lips and a swish of blusher to my cheeks in the morning. I always receive Soap & Glory bath products so I was expecting The Yule Monty set full of body lotions and scrubs, but to my surprise my mother took a risk on the off chance, I would prefer a make-up set rather than body lotions and she got it so right. My face lit up as soon as I uncovered the wrapping paper and saw Girl O Whirl. I have been a fan of Soap & Glory for a few years, I love the branding and the make-up .

There isn't a day where I don’t wear make-up as I like to look presentable. A swish of mascara and lipstick makes me feel confident so this was the perfect gift.

It’s a little late but 2 months on I decided to do a review focusing on the six lip shades in the set. I usually stick to red lip colours and I rarely venture in to using other colours but I thought it would be a shame to single out the other colours in my set as I love experimenting with beauty products. Finally after the Christmas period I have trialed and experimented with every colour.

Naked Beige

Guava Rama

Red my lips

Missing pink

Perfect day

Man trap 

My favourite colour from this set is surprisingly Naked Beige. It's the perfect shade for a natural day to day look which I can wear whilst going to University without it being too much. If I'm dressing up for a few drinks around town with friends then Red my Lips is my favourite to wear as its very feminine and I'm obsessed with red lip colours. Unfortunately the Girl O Whirl set is unavailable to purchase as it was a Christmas edition but I'm sure by late October new Soap & Glory gift sets will be hitting the shelves.

 I also received this voucher in the make-up set which will be going to good use in a few weeks as my brownie points eyebrow brush is running low.

What’s your favourite Soap & Glory product?

LUSH Catastrophe Cosmetic- Face mask

Tuesday afternoon I took a trip to Manchester for a meeting at the STA travel shop to pursue my dreams of going to Australia but as I had a few hours to spare I decided to take a small shopping trip to The LUSH store in the Arndale. I was searching for a good face mask for a reasonable price which offers fresh ingredients instead of those awful £1.00 sachets that you can buy from Superdrug which leaves my skin irritated and worse off than it already began.

After being in LUSH for a good 5 minutes a sales assistant came over to help me decide which face mask would be best for my skin and the result I’m after. I wanted a face mask to cleanse my face as I wear make- up most days, without it being too harsh as I have very sensitive skin.

I purchased Catastrophe cosmetic for £5.95-The quote on the pot reads, “When disaster looms, Catastrophic Cosmetic calms and cleanses the skin. Blueberries rich in beneficial anti oxidants, soothing chamomile, Irish moss and the gentle cleaning action of calamine to save the day”.

 The sales assistant explained I will be able to get around 5-6 face mask applications out of the tub and keep it in the fridge due to the fresh ingredients. Also after I have 5 empty tubs I can trade them in to receive a free tub of fresh face of my choice.

Last night I finally had some me time before bed so I decided it was the perfect opportunity to try my new product. Firstly I made sure my make- up was fully removed so the mask could work its best and cleanse my skin. I only needed literally 2-3 small blobs of the mask as it covered very well due to the thick texture. As soon as I opened the pot, I could instantly smell the blueberries which I absolutely love.

I left the mask on for a good 10 minutes and then used cotton pads and warm water to remove the mask. In terms of results I noticed my face instantly felt softer and brighter looking which is always a plus. I think with persistence this mask will gradually improve my skins complexion each time. I was advised to use this mask  every 4 days as using it every few days could dry my skin out. For the price it is amazing considering other brands who use natural ingredients such as Neal’s Yard are literally double the price.

I also purchased a sample size of the Charity Pot which is a hand and body lotion. The woman had been so helpful; I felt the need to donate a small fee of £1. For every pot bought, except V.AT the money goes to different charities. I don’t usually get dry skin but yesterday my hands felt dry, due to the cold weather so I used a very small amount on my hands. I have to say this was a god-send my hands felt refreshed and it’s great for putting in your handbag.It’s heavily scented with cocoa butter which always smells delish.

I’m definitely taking another shopping trip to LUSH in a few weeks time to stock up on some more of their great products. I had only used their soaps since yesterday but now I’m hooked on this brands products and views towards animal testing.

What’s your favourite LUSH product?

NOTD-Pretty pastels

<a href="http://www.bloglovin.com/blog/11240981/?claim=rh8syrve3ns">Follow my blog with Bloglovin</a>

When I’m running short on cash but I still want to treat myself, I always opt for a fashion magazine and a pot of nail polish to cheer me up. Nothing makes me happier than having a bit of me time and reading all the latest fashion trends whilst making my nails look pretty.

A few weeks back, I was having a browse in Tesco and picked up the latest Look magazine. Whilst tooting around the beauty section, I noticed they had one of the biggest sections I had ever seen of Barry M nail polishes in every colour imaginable.

I stood there in awe for at least 5 minutes trying to decide a colour, from glittery polishes to ruby reds which are always a favourite of mine, I chose a lilac pastel colour in the Gelly Hi-shine as I wanted something different and of course pastels are in this season.

Priced at £3.99, Barry M never fails in providing quality and reasonable prices. The polish is exactly what every girl needs in their beauty case. It applies easily and after a quick two coat application, your nails are left with an amazing shine and colour.

I really couldn’t say one bad thing about their nail polishes, I have used them in the past and as I was browsing the Barry M website today to look at other potential products to buy I spotted they are offering all customers 15% off all online orders with the code FRESH15.

This is the perfect opportunity to grab some spring/summer beauty essentials without spending an absolute fortune.

What’s your favourite nail polish at the moment?

The Valentines break up

Valentine’s Day, is usually described as a commercial money making day by most people. A few days ago I would have been less partial to this idea but only a few days ago my boyfriend of almost 3 years finished me. For the special day I pictured a lovely candlelit dinner in a nice restaurant followed by an exchange of romantic presents I had bought.

I thought wrong and now instead this first Valentines posting which was supposed to be a present gift idea for him is a gift idea list for all those single ladies out there who can’t stand the thought of seeing couples everywhere being romantic and mushy.

I never thought a week before Valentines I would be coming to terms that I’m single and trying to get through the last months of my Journalism degree.  However after an emotional few days I've realised I need to focus on me for a while and this Valentines I will be spending it with lots of my girly friends.

When I was searching for gifts I found the website notonthehighstreet.com which specialises in personalized gifts. Although a lot of them are in the £40 range or higher, I found ‘Our date jar’ priced at £13.95. I think this is a nifty idea to encourage you and one of your girlfriends to have a laugh not just on Valentine’s day by creating weekly date trips to the cinema or having a Jim jams movie marathon day.
http://www.notonthehighstreet.com/thegreengables/product/the-date-jar

For Valentine’s VirginExperienceDays have some great offers, such as eating at Heston B’s pub or having a spot of afternoon tea. I spotted this Boudoir photo-shoot for her at a reasonable cost of £28.00. The shoot also contains hair and make-up styling which means an extra pampering on Valentines to heal the wounds and to show the world you've still got it.

http://www.virginexperiencedays.co.uk/boudoir-photoshoot-for-her-sp3?path=q-friend%2520photoshoots

Finally if all else fails, Hotel Chocolat have this amazing chocolate gift selection for £39. This makes the perfect gift to take round your friends to make movie night extra scrumptious. Let’s face it too going through a break up is tough and chocolate makes everything better. This gift set also contains a bottle of rose which can be used as pre drinks before hitting the town.
http://www.hotelchocolat.com/uk/shop/valentines-day-gifts/the-love-selection

For anyone out there who is newly single this Valentine’s day, I know it’s hard but with time it’s going to get better and you will probably realise life is a lot greener on the other side. For a long while, even when in my relationship, I was planning a GAP year to Australia and this break up has made me realise to go and follow my dreams.

How are you going to be spending valentines?

Primark- Shoe love

For a while now I have been lustering after a pair of platform heels which add height but are easier to walk in than most heels. After searching my favourite shoe retailers including Office, Schuh, Topshop and Asos, I couldn’t find what I was looking for. I have come close to finding a pair in Topshop but I hated the colours and priced at £60, I knew they were going to break my ever shrinking bank balance immediately.

This week I took a trip to Leeds for a bloggers event, which I will be writing up about very shortly. My friend Kerys and myself had some time to kill before we had to go and get ready so I begged her permission to go to Primark in Trinity so I could just browse and pick up a few cheap and cheerful everyday tops.

To be honest I haven’t shopped in Primark for years as I always buy my tops from Topshop but as I’m a student, £20 a top was getting too much for me. To my surprise I found some vest tops priced at £3 and a nice loose fitted top for £5.

Optimistically I thought I would search upstairs in the shoe section to see what they had to offer, but I imagined I would probably leave without a pair and be back on the hunt to find some platform heels.

I was completely wrong. These black suede pair of platform heels were talking to me saying ‘Try me on please and buy me’. I’m usually a size 7 in most shoes but as these are a platform, I tried on a size 6 and they fit snug as a bug. In height I’m 5ft 8 so when wearing these I’m probably around 5ft 10 but it’s definitely shoe love. In my eyes shoes are a girl’s best friend and priced at an incredible £14 for these gorgeous labours of love, you can’t really go wrong at all. They did also have a Cobalt blue colour, but I thought I would stick to black so I can match them with everything.

Valentine’s Day is approaching very shortly and I can guarantee I will be now wearing my new favourite pair of heels.  I’m so impressed with these beauties; I’m already planning another trip to Leeds so I can have a massive shopping haul in Primark. 

Have you bought Primark heels before?