MAC Haul & Important Information!!

There are quite a few MAC eye shadows that I have been wanting for a little while now, but I couldn't decide on whether to buy the individual pots or to invest in a pro palette and then just have to purchase the refill colours (which is also more cost effective option). After much thought, I decided to go for the palette. I think that this is a much better option for me, especially when travelling, as the palette is quite slimline and holds up to 15 colours, which is more than ample.

I have only three colours in my palette so far, those being Naked Lunch, Satin Taupe and Hush. as I have said before, I tend to lean towards more neutral colours as I have quite deep-set eyes and more vibrant colours just don't tend to suit me.

The colours are lovely - I have swatched them on my hand so that you can see for yourself - and I was so excited to receive them in the post this morning.

Right to Left: Hush, Naked Lunch, Satin Taupe

However... My excitement soon turned to guilt and also disappointment when I discovered this blog post that has been floating around in cyber space since March 15th 2012. Logical Harmony is described as being an 'animal friendly' beauty blog, and is written by a young lady called Tashina who focuses her posts on vegan and cruelty-free beauty.  I don't believe in animal testing, and I blindly thought that nowadays the vast majority of companies, especially the main cosmetic brands, would steer well clear of this as it is such a huge no-no.

Animal testing is an issue that I am now going to do alot more research on before buying any beauty products in the future. It was such a shame to find out that MAC could be participating in animal testing, and the thought of filling my eye palette with a further 12 colours is something that I am now really reconsidering.

Please let me know your thoughts :-)

Claire

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OJON haircare haul

I recently took advantage of the 'Buy One Get Two Free' offer on the Ojon website. Basically, if you made a purchase of one full sized product on their website, they also sent you a full size 250ml duo of their Volume Advance Volumising Shampoo & Conditioner.

I was lucky enough to receive the Ojon Damage Reverse Restorative Hair Serum in my Harrods Glossybox, and since then I have been wanting to try more of their products. As this was such a fantastic offer, I just couldn't pass it up!

I chose to purchase the Dry Recovery Revitalizing Moisture Mist as my full price product. This is advertised as being a 'lightweight pre-style, re-style genius in a bottle' promising re-hydrated, tangle-free, bouncy hair, and I have to say THIS WORKS! I loved the way that it ejects from the bottle as a fine misty spritz, rather than a direct spray, and is therefore easier to distribute evenly through the hair. I used it on towel-dried hair, which I then blow-dried, and my hair felt really soft, shiny and healthy without feeling bogged down with product. It smells great too. I would definately recommend this, as my ends were also alot less dry and overall my hair was in alot better condition.

The Volumising Shampoo is another great product. It has a lovely botanical scent without being too overpowering. It doesn't lather up very well, though I remember reading somewhere a few years ago that this is a good thing, as shampoos that lather up well contain detergents that tend to dry the hair. It definately cleanses well though, and you don't need to use too much product, which is a bonus considering the cost if you do purchase this at its full price.

The Volumising Conditioner also smells great, and even though it conditions the hair well, its doesn't stick on the hair to leave it feeling greasy or bogged down with product, but instead rinses out and leaves the hair feeling lightweight and healthy.  It also left my hair with alot more volume, which is something my hair hasn't had in a while!

I am really impressed with the overall effects of all three products, and would highly recommend them. The Dry Recovery Revitalizing Moisture Mist is £20.00 for 175mls. This is a little pricey, but when you combine this with the fact that I had two free samples, free delivery and free shampoo and conditioner worth a combined £37.50, you can see just what a bargain this offer was.

I would love to say that I would rush out and purchase all of these products again, but the only issue holding me back is the price. I'm not sure that I can justify spending £57.50 on 3 haircare products!!

Have you tried any Ojon products? Did you like them as much as I do?

Claire

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Soap & Glory Haul

Boots have a 3 for 2 offer on all Soap & Glory facial skincare products at the moment, both online and instore. I had been wanting to purchase their 'Glow Job' Daily Radiance Moisture Lotion for a while, but once I was faced with the 3for2 offer I also fancied trying out The Fab Pore Hot Cloth Cleanser. I got the 'Wonderfill' Wrinkle filler too, just as the third product as part of the offer really, and in the hope that it may make me look that little bit more youthful :-)

I had read a few mixed reviews about the 'Glow Job' product, but still really wanted to try it out for myself. It is a white lotion that contains little micro beads that, when burst, release a sort of bronzing colour into the cream and this eventually mixes in to create a healthy glow.

The first issue I had with this product is the bursting of the little beads - some of them take quite a bit of pressure and the whole concept as a product takes a bit of getting used to. I also found that the beads weren't evenly distributed throughout the cream, so you could have two equally sized blobs of cream, and one has about two beads in it and the other may have about 5 or 6. This then obviously affects the level of colour and sometimes can be a bit uneven on your face. It is a good tinted moisturiser, but I am quite pale and it is just a little too dark for my skin tone. If I had a tan though, it would be such a great product. As with all Soap & glory products, it smells great too!!

The next product is the Hot Cloth Cleanser. I bought this mainly because I had read a few reviews that claimed the ingredients in this product are identical to those in the Liz Earle Cleanse & Polish Hot Cloth Cleanser. It is 100ml size, which is the same as the Liz Earle Cleanser, but around 3 pounds cheaper in price. It has a lovely scent, and is a nice consistency - although I did tend to have to use more of the Soap & Glory Cleanser in comparison to the Liz Earle Cleanser as it seems to evaporate quite quickly. I have quite sensitive skin, and after about 30 seconds application it made my skin tingle to the point where it was bordering on a mild stinging sensation. I followed the instructions, and left it on my face for two minutes in total, but I don't feel that it removed all of my eye make-up as effectively as the Liz Earle Cleanse & Polish, nor did it leave my skin feeling as soft and moisturised. It is a good substitute product for Liz Earle Hot Cloth Cleanser though, and comes with the cutest pink-edged muslin cloth. It just hasn't managed to convert me from my trusty Liz Earle!!

And my spur of the moment product was the Wonderfill wrinkle filler. This is a cream that claims to literally fill in your wrinkles (kind of like posh polyfiller for skin, or cheap botox?!). It boasts line fighting superpeptides, a special oxygen boosting skin stimulating complex, exclusive light-activated Superblur line-disguising spheres, and a wrinkle plumping moisture matrix. Could they be any more scientific if they tried?! You just dab a little cream on areas of skin prone to wrinkles and the lines become less apparent. All I have to say is that Wonderfill is most definately Wonderful!! I have light crows feet (or laughter lines as I prefer to call them) at the corners of my eyes, and this little gem just smoothed them right out. Instantly. I applied concealer on top, and it just glided effortlessly across rather than settle in the creases as it normally would, and this is an effect that lasted for around 8 hours. Highly, highly recommended to those who are attempting to cut around 5 years off your age!!

So that's it for my little Soap & Glory Haul - Have you bought any Soap & Glory products lately?

Claire

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You've got to love a bit of Barry M!!

Boots are currently running an offer on Barry M nail polishes - save a pound with every two polishes purchased. So at a cost of £4.98 for the two, I snapped them up. Well, it would be rude not to wouldn't it?

I bought shade 304 Mint Green and shade 305 Pink Flamingo...

I have been wanting a minty-green nail polish for a while, and even though 'Mint Green' is a little more of a brighter green than I had planned, I LOVE it!! It is the perfect Spring/Summer shade, and I can see me getting alot of use out of it.

I am always drawn to pink nail polishes, but Pink flamingo is not your classic pink shade. It is a very bright almost neon-esque coral/pink, which is also such a great summer colour and will look fantastic with a tan. Bring on the sunshine!!

Both polishes require two coats as they are quite opaque, but two coats does the job really well. They apply easily and dry super fast.

They last around 2 days without chipping at all, and day 3 saw only minor chipping to the tips - although I do work alot with my hands, and this can increase the risk of chipping tenfold.

I am so very happy with the result of both products, especially for such a great price, and I now feel like I NEED more Barry M Polishes in my life!!

Do you love Barry M polishes as much as I do?
Claire

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April Glossybox is here!!!

Well, my April Glossybox arrived about an hour ago, and at first I was confused as to whether it was a Glossybox at all because it arrived in a plain outer brown cardboard box rather than the normal Glossybox print packaging. On opening the outer box, all sort of became revealed I suppose as the inner box as such is made of a very natural feeling neutral coloured cardboard, suggesting that there were organic products inside. Am I the only one disappointed with this? I just feel that after sooooo many different boxes, the novelty has well and truly worn off for me. Bring back the pink I say!!

Anyway, once past this little issue, I was pleased as punch with the products inside!!

First up, Caudalie Vinosource SOS Thirst-Quenching Serum. I had already purchased the Caudalie spray on a recent trip to Paris and know just how high end this brand is. All Caudalie products are paraben free, and contain only preservatives used by organic brands in their products. The Vinosource Serum should be applied morning and evening to face and neck before moisturising as normal to ensure that skin never lacks moisture. I tested a small amount on the back of my hand, and it has a light scent to it, rubs in easily, and a little goes a long way. As I am always on the lookout for any skincare products to keep my skin looking healthy and on the younger side of thirty, this is a product that I am really excited about!

I also had a full size Inika certified organic eyeliner, which retails at £11.75. I have never come across this brand before, but Inika is a luxury natural cosmetics brand. I am always up for trying new products, and I especially like that I have received shade 10 Green Lagoon, as normally I tend to stick to smoky greys/browns. It is a very subtle metallic green colour, and as I have dark auburn hair and hazel eyes, this colour will be great for me.

The Monuspa professional skincare enriched body cream is described as a rich, indulgent cream to comfort and nourish the skin. Monu is another organic brand, and none of their products contain damaging chemicals, artificial perfumes or synthetic colours. They are also against animal testing - BIG thumbs up! This is a 30ml sample, and full size 200ml retails at £23.00. Consistency wise, I would describe it as being on the thicker side of a lotion more than a cream, but it has a really lovely, relaxing scent and I will definately be using this product.

The Figs & Rouge peppermint & tea tree lip balm is another organic product in this months box. It is full size, and retails at £3.29 for 8ml. It comes in the cutest little tin, and smells really good. The only downside is that it doesnt taste too great.

And the last product I received was a 15ml trial size of the Philip B drop dead straightening balm. It is heat activated, and wont work unless hair is dried with a hairdryer. This doesnt have the greatest of scents, but it is a botanical product containing matricara & althaea extracts that promise tangle-free hair with a sleek finish. Lets hope it does what it says on the tin (tube even!)

So thats it for my April Glossybox guys, what products did you get?

Claire

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Where have I been & what have I been up to?

This past week has been HELL. It started out with the preparation for a job interview that didnt really go to plan... Still waiting to find out if I got the job (they're ringing me tomorrow), but I dont hold out too many hopes on that one!! Hey Ho, onwards and upwards...

Then I was busy busy busy getting out my orders, to the point where I have been getting on average around 5 hours sleep a night - This amount of sleep does not bode well when you have a 9 month old ray of sunshine that likes to play peek-a-boo all day whilst screaming and shouting dadada at the top of her voice.

This was all topped off with my very first craft fair as 'Beau Flutterby' yesterday. I was busy sewing until 3am the night before, and had to be up at 7am to set off at 8. I had a good day, and met some lovely people, but I felt really ill all day too. I put this down to severe lack of sleep, but once I got home I was sooo sick and had one of those nasty 24 hour bugs. This may be too much information, but it has really seemed to top my week off nicely! (Im not normally this down in the dumps honest!! lol).

Anyhow, I just thought that I would share with you a few photos of my little stall at the craft fair :-)

Looking a little worse for wear - Doesn't my stall look pretty though?

All my hard work on display!!

Hubby brought my little ray of sunshine for a visit :-)

Hope you all feel much better than I do!! Off to bed now for some more much needed ZZzzzzz's

Claire x X x

Parisian purchases... Ooh La La ;-)

I have recently returned from a trip to Paris with my sister and my beautiful baby girl. Aside from all of the obvious sightseeing, and enough museum trips to make my old art teachers proud, we were on the hunt for some beauty products.

My sister and I are regular watchers of beauty videos on Youtube and, because of all the hype around it, the one store that we were desperate to head to was Sephora, which is a haven for make-up addicts. Normally, shopping abroad implies bargains galore as prices in Britain can be very expensive when compared to those in the USA for example. However, with the exchange rate of the pound to the euro not being so great at the moment, the prices of most make-up and beauty products weren't great value for money at all. If anything, most items worked out around five pounds more expensive per product!! So, I decided to purchase items that I aren't available within the UK - and this left only one brand really, and that is Sephora's own.

We visited two separate Sephora stores, with the biggest being on the Champs Elysees. I purchased a variety of products, most of which I will be doing individual reviews on once I have had a chance to use them. I bought two body washes, one Toffee scented, and the other Lemon scented, and also some of their fizzing bath cubes. I was very impressed with the scents in the shop, so hopefully they will live up to my expectations. I also purchased some of their triple action cleansing water to remove make-up because I had been able to test this in the shop and was really pleased with the result.

Sephora Nail Polish - Midnight Crawl shade 69

I bought their highlighting compact powder in Rose Pink, two eye shadows in no.14 Marie and no.13 Peach Beige as they complimented each other well and swatched nicely too. I got a lip colour in S15 Fun Coral, as coral seems to be popular at the moment, and it is known for suiting most skin tones. I purchased two nail polishes; Moody Blue shade 67 which is a blue shimmer, and Midnight Crawl shade 69 - this is a great duplicate of the Chanel Peridot polish.

I also purchased two of their make-up brushes: No. 22 All over shadow, and No. 13 Rounded Crease. They are really soft, and seem to be of good quality - they have had no hair loss so far anyway!! My sister bought one of their large blusher brushes, and she is really happy with it too.

Sephora are renowned for giving away great freebies with purchases, and I was lucky enough to get a mini Chanel inimitable mascara and also a mini of Dolce & Gabanna's 'the one' eau de parfum, which are both really lovely little extras :-D

Also on the Champs Elysees was a store called Yves Rocher. I had never heard of this brand before, but a quick visit to their website since has taught me that they are firm believers in botanical beauty. I purchased a variety of products, including Micellar Cleansing Water, Shower Gel, Body Scrub, Body Balm, Lip Balm and Fizzy bath cubes. All of the items that I purchased were travel/mini sizes, which is always great when you are trying new products. They smell so great, and I cant wait to road test them!! The downside is, if I do end up really loving them, they are not freely available to buy in the UK. They are available for internet order though, and the reviews that I have read about their products so far indicate that they are all purchases well made.

I also bought two MAC goodies at the Galleries Lafayette - their Fix + finishing spray for make-up and also one of their Tendertones in Hush Hush, which is a really lovely sheer gold lip balm with a pretty gold shimmer. I did pay a little over the odds for the Tendertone at 15 euros, but I realise how lucky I am to get my hands on them at all, as they are completely sold out online.

Even though I know that they are widely available in the UK, I made a few purchases in the Body Shop. I fell in love with the gorgeous scents of their Choccomania Lip Butter and the Satsuma Shimmer Born Lippy Lip Balm. I don't normally associate the Body Shop with cosmetics as much as bath and shower products, but I perused their make-up collection and ended up purchasing one of their new Colourglide Shine Lip Colours in 02 Shell Pink. Apparently, so the sales assistant informed me, this new range of lippies contain marula oil, making them much more moisturising that their other lip products. This is a winner for me, as I suffer with really dry lips - lets just hope it keeps its promise! At the moment, their range is limited as they only have six shades available. I also bought some satsuma hand cleanse gel. Although this is not the most exciting product, I loved that it makes your hands smell strongly of satsuma rather than the non-descript smell of plain alcohol gel - definately a winner in my books!!

Oh, and just to let you know, the Body Shop have a massive 50% off all of their body butters at the moment - so head on over to their website and take a peek!!

A few weeks back, I read an article in one of my mother's magazines (I think it may have been Bella?!) stating that Victoria Beckham is a massive fan of Caudalie Beauty Elixir, and uses it on top of he make up to ensure a glowing complexion. Since then, I have seen this product being talked about everywhere, and it has also featured in Bazaar Beauty's Hot 100 for 2012

Caudalie Beauty Elixir 30ml & Free Novexpert expert Anti-Aging Eye Contour sample

This product has also been favoured by Queen Isabelle of Hungary, describing it as 'the elixir of youth'. It is said to improve skin by smoothing, tightening pores and providing a burst of radiance, but all this comes for a pretty penny. A 30ml bottle set me back around 11 euros ( but is available at feelunique.com for £9.35 delivered). Will it work? We shall see!

I also made two high-end product purchases at the Airport Duty Free. I have never tried any Shiseido products before, but their 3 step skincare set caught my eye. It is specifically for skin that requires moisturising, and contains Extra Gentle Cleansing Foam, Hydro-Nourishing Softener Lotion, and Day Moisture Protection. It set me back around 40 euros, so hopefully it will prove as money well spent, especially considering 95% of people have said to have seen significant improvement to their skins smoothness when using all three products for 1 month.

And last but by no means least, Dior Extase Mascara. This is a total splurge for me, and a complete gamble as I hadn't read any reviews about this product before purchasing it. My mascara of choice has always been Clinique's High Impact Mascara, and it is one that I have always reverted back to. But maybe Dior will give it a run for its money?!

So that's it... Hopefully this little lot will keep me going for a while!!

Have you tried any of the products listed here? What were your experiences?

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