New Years Eve Nails!

I received a Caviar nails set for Christmas and I was dying to try it out - so I thought that news years would be a great time to test it out! 

The first thing I did was paint the nail I wanted to decorate with the silver polish. The Ciate silver polish looks really beautiful and it looks like a foil/metallic cover over the nails. I just painted one thick coat on the single nail first - then I tipped the beads onto the nail with a plastic tray under my hand to collect the stay beads. I would suggest you open the bead bottle in the tray too as some beads did come out when I opened the bottle. 

After I painted the nail and cover it with the tiny silver, dark grey and bright pink beads I then gently pressed the beads into the nail polish - the nail polish has the be wet. Be really careful when pressing down on the beads as they can move around and stick to your finger if you press too hard. Also the beads can get every where so you have to be really gentle and slow when using the beads. 

After I pressed on the beads I then carefully painted the rest of my nails with the silver polish and let it all dry. On the leaflet that came with the set, it says to leave the polish/beads to dry for at least 15-20 minutes. After 15 minutes I checked the polish and then I applied my Seche Vite top coat to all of my nails, but only the tips of the nails with the beads on. There is the final result! I am really happy with the way it tuned out, especially as this is my first time using the Ciate Caviar nail kits. 

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Sale Haul: Kiko

Kiko Cosmetics

This is the first in a (long) line of sale haul blog posts which will be posted over the next two weeks or so. Christmas is a time for giving - and also receiving and I have been receiving a lot of deliveries from royal mail and couriers! Firstly is a haul from Kiko cosmetics which is an amazing Italian makeup brand - if you are in the UK or parts of Europe you can buy Kiko online. 

I bought seven items from Kiko (I placed my order when I saw that they were having a sale on, on their christmas products - 30% off - which was the 19th of December). I bought six items that were reduced and one item that wasn't as the minimum order value for Kiko is £25 and I needed a small item to make up the difference. I bought a foundation, a concealer, a creamy lip pencil, a long lasting limited edition lipstick, a nail polish, a empty tub container and a limited edition eyeshadow quad - all for £25.90. The shipping was free for some reason when I made my order and it is not my first order with Kiko. 

Flash photographs

Firstly I bought the Kiko Anti-age foundation in the shade 01 Peach Pink. The foundation was an impulse buy, I didn't research the foundation and I didn't look at swatches online before I bought it was it was only £3.90. The foundation shade is a good match for me (I am very pale, NW15 in Mac). The foundation shade is a very good match for me, the foundation has medium coverage and a natural finish. The foundation doesn't really highlight any dryness on me and it doesn't look matte or dewy. It applies and blends well with my real techniques expert face brush and it helps to cover my dark circles, pores and redness - but it definitely doesn't cover anything! Overall, a great foundation - I think it will be in my January favourites. 

Flash photographs

The next item I bought was the Kiko 3D Lifting Concealer in the shade 02 Natural. This concealer was also £3.90 and it also comes in a pump bottle like the foundation. I bought the concealer in the shade 02 not 01 as the shade 02 looked peachy in tone so I thought it would be good for under eye correcting. The concealer shade is a good match for me and the slight peachy undertones of the concealer do help to reduce the darkness - although it doesn't have the coverage I need for under my eyes and it does crease under my eye easily. Although this concealer is great for helping cover redness and pores - this concealer is fantastic at covering the large pores on my nose. It applies and blends like a dream and it is just a great concealer - although maybe just for blemishes/redness/pores and not so much for under eyes, in my opinion. 

Next up is a Creamy Lip Pencil in the shade 404. I already have one of the Kiko creamy lip pencils in the shade 401 from my previous Kiko haul (link here to the haul). The lip pencil is really smooth, soft and creamy which means that it applies very smoothly/easily. The shade is a gorgeous deep rose pink with strong brown undertones. The pencil is matte and it looks natural on the lips, the shade can be subtle or built up. I use this pencil to line my lips then to fill in my lips so that it is an all over lip colour. Overall, I do recommend the Kiko creamy lip pencils. 

Left: Lip pencil (404), Right: Lipstick (05 dark salmon)

Next is a lipstick - the Kiko Unlimited Lipstick in the shade 05 Dark Salmon. This lipstick was priced at £5.20 and it is a gorgeous red shade with peachy pink undertones. The lipstick applies very smoothly and it has a creamy soft texture. The lipstick is very easy to apply and it looks gorgeous on the lips. The lipstick has good longevity (Although I will need to test it for long before a full review) and it is a bit difficult to remove. 

Flash photographs

The next makeup product I bought was a nail polish in the shade 393 which is a gorgeous deep dark green. In some lights this shade look like a deep forest green but in other lights it can look black or a dark navy. The shade is really nice and great for this time of year. The polish applies well, it dries quickly and there is minimal streaking/patchiness. Although without a topcoat this shade wears at the tips within a day - I will have to try it with my Seche Vite topcoat. 

Flash photographs - swatches

The final makeup product I bought from Kiko is a eyeshadow quad - the Color Fever Eyeshadow Quad in the shade 01 Unexpected Rosy Taupe. This palette should have been £12.90 but it was reduced to £9 which I think is great. The shades are all shimmery (I would have preferred a couple of matte shades) but the shade themselves are just gorgeous! The white shade is fantastic as a highlight (brow bone or inner corner), the silvery taupe and medium brown shades are great all over the lid and the dark brown is great as a liner or in the outer corner. Overall, great packaging, great shades...a great product although the shade do crease within a hour or so without a primer. 

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Selfridges Advent Calendar: 20-24 (It's late I know!)

Here are the last four items I received in my Selfridges beauty advent calendar 2012 - its a bit late I know but I have been really busy the past few days! 

The item that I received on the 20th of December was an eye cream from Lancome - the Lancome Genifique Yeux Youth Activating Eye Concentrate. I haven't tried this yet as I already have the Origins Ginsing eye cream and the Rodial Dragons Blood eye cream. 

The next item I received was the Kiehls Midnight Recovery Concentrate which I haven't tried before but I am excited too - I haven't used Kiehls skincare before and the packaging for this mini item looks adorable! 

The third item I received was a perfume sample bottle - the YSL Opium perfume which I have seen advertised recently and it looks great although I think the bottle looks quite outdated. The scent is quite musky, masculine and spicy - it smells similar to my one of my dads old aftershaves (woodspice from Marks and Spencer). 

The last item I received in my advent calendar is the Kiehls Creme De Corps Rich Nourishing body moisturiser which I have only tried on my hands so far but it works well so far! 

Well, my advent calendar is now empty! I love the idea of a beauty advent calendar and a few brands/sites have started making their own this year so I will definitely be buying one next year - maybe a cheaper one than this! Will you be buying a beauty advent calendar next year? 

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Merry Christmas!

Merry christmas to all of my subscribers! A few weeks ago I only had 8 subscribers and now I have 63 - thank you so much! I have my 20-24 advent calendar post will be up later today or tomorrow. I have make up blog posts and december empties coming soon!

 

And I have bought so much in the sales...oops! So I will have quite a lot of sale haul posts too over the next two weeks!

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A Christmas Week in Photographs #3

Baking  // Baking  //  Baking

Cheeky pre-christmas shopping //  Nail art #fail // Cosy winter clothes

Cooking programmes // Healthy eating // Winning!

This  final week before Christmas for me has been about shopping, cooking programmes, baking and festive nails! Firstly, this week I made some shortbread - gingerbread, maple syrup and basil flavour. The gingerbread and maple syrup ones went down quickly but I think savoury shortbread is a bit too futuristic for everyone else but I liked them. The shortbread didn't take long to make at all but the cupcake tree that I made took a bit longer than I thought it would! I have been baking and cooking a lot as I have been watching a lot of cooking programmes - in particular 'Nigelissima' and Nigella christmas - gotta love Nigella! I have also been buying some things in the pre-christma sales in H&M, Harrods and I have bought some bits and pieces in Primark today - although it was very busy so I didn't see everything that I wanted (youtube primark hauls show some of the best bits from Primark but I can never find them in store!). I have also been painting my nails a lot this week with festive nail art (link here) and my second attempt at galaxy nails #fail! Although I did get some good news this week, I won a competition on the review site that I write on and I won a mug and some chocolates! 

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Cupcake Christmas Tree!

Today myself and my sister made some cinnamon cupcakes which were easy to makes, although they did turn out a little bit (a lot) deformed in the oven! The cupcakes were made using a regular/plain cupcake recipe but we added ground cinnamon - quite a lot and they taste great. 

While the cupcakes were in the oven I made some green butter cream icing to top the cupcakes with. The cupcakes didn't take that long in the oven, about 20 minutes. It was the first time I had made butter cream icing and it came out quite well, although I had to add some flour to thicken the icing. We made the icing green so that the cupcakes would look vaguely like a Christmas tree when they were stacked in their tree stand. 

The end result! After the green icing the cupcakes looked good - we added yellow chocolate beads first to look like lights but they didn't look good so we added red glitter sugar instead - we also added silver edible beads after we took this picture - the cupcakes were a big hit! I will have to make some more festive goodies! 

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Manchester Christmas Markets & OOTE

Today we went to the Christmas markets in Manchester - even though it was cold and raining! I wore my hair down and I did get wet, mainly as my sister kept moving the umbrella off me but any way we had a great time and we bought some gorgeous food! 

The markets were gorgeous, as they always are and there were stalls from all over Europe from Austria, Germany, Switzerland to Italy, Holland and from various parts of England too. There were gorgeous gifts, wooden toys, plants, decorations and also lots of food - including chocolate covered strawberries, pancakes, wurst (sausage), gingerbread, sweets, chocolates and also lots of beer and mulled wine!

The markets are spread around the city centre with the best and most well known outside the town hall. Also the town hall had stalls from Afflecks inside too - if you are not familiar with Manchester then you will not know what Afflecks is but it is a massive building with lots of quirky, unique, kitch, gothic/punk independent stores/boutiques in!  The markets also look so gorgeous and christmassy especially with the giant glowing Santa. The markets are usually very, very busy but as it was raining constantly today there were not as many people. 

Here is some of the food goodies that we bought from the markets including pistachio and cream canalonis, Belgian waffles with chocolate on and Nutella inside. I also bought a stick of chocolate covered strawberries (which I am eating right now, drools). I bought some pasta with pesto sauce from the Italian deli at the markets (heaven). 

Lastly, a quick OOTE (outfit of the evening). I wore my black leather jacket from the Promod, my dark green scarf which I bought from the Royal Caribbean store on the 'Mariner of the sea' ship this August. I also wore my Dorothy Perkins petite skinny jeans and my Fitflop mukluks in black. These photographs were taken when we came back so my hair is a bit of a messy as it was raining the whole time we were there - typical England!

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Selfridges Advent Calendar: 15-19

Another day, another blogmas post and today it is another Selfridges advent calendar reveal!

My gorgeous Harrods teddy (Harrods Rubens Bear) called Alexander!

 The product I opened on the 15th December is the YSL Waterproof Eye Pencil in the shade '1 black'. I haven't tried any YSL eye pencils before, as I have so many eyeliners already but I will have to buy a couple more now! This eyeliner is just gorgeous, it is incredibly smooth, creamy and soft when applied - it doesn't drag the skin and it is really pigmented. 

Swatches photographed in natural light 

The second and third products I received were two Lancome Juicy Tubes which I was a little bit disappointed about as I have a couple already (from gifts sets) and I personally don't like them. They are a bit tacky and they are not very pigmented from my experience. I haven't used the two I received, as I already have some that I don't use, so I will be giving these to a friend. 

The fourth product is also from Lancome and it is their Visionnaire Advanced Skin Corrector mini which looks adorable but I already have the large 30ml version of this product - I won it in a debenhams Beauty Club competition earlier this year along with other Lancome goodies. I haven't tried the full size bottle but I will have to try this soon.

The fifth and last product in this post is a mini bottle of the YSL Forever Youth Liberator Serum which I don't really need as I have only just turned 20 this August! I will use this sample bottle as I don't have a serum at the moment so it was good timing that I received it in my advent calendar. 

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Pre-Christmas Mini H&M Haul!

A couple of weeks ago I bought two tops from H&M that I have wanted for a while - and they were on sale at half price! Then a few days later H&M added a lot of new stock to their sale so I had to make another order - both orders together (with postage) only cost me about £20. 

Apologies for the slightly pervy pose I am not used to doing fashion posts/pics and the writing is reversed as I took the pictures in front of a mirror

These are the first two tops I bought and I just adore them! Band raglan tops are difficult to find and when they are released in H&M I have to get them. I bought them as I have wanted them for a while and they should have been £14 but they were reduced to £7 each which I think is great. The tops look well made, they are soft and lightweight. They feature the band 'pink floyd' and 'fleetwood mac' both of which I don't like but I love the tops!

The next two things I bought include this gorgeous burnt orange scarf and a natural beige jumper, both of which I love, even though the scarf is very very long and the jumper is a bit longer than I would have liked - but that is the downside to Internet shopping (and delivery charges!). Firstly, the scarf is just gorgeous, I was really surprised at how long it was, also it is incredibly smooth and soft. The colour of the scarf is darker in 'real life' (I have to use flash with these photographs as even though it was morning when these photographs were taken today, there is still hardly any light). I adore the scarf and the jumper is really soft too. I find that some H&M jumpers can be poorly made - they sometimes feel really cheap but this jumper is really well made, it feels very soft and smooth and the colour isn't just one shade of beige it is a combination which makes it look even cosier! Although be careful with H&M sizing as it can be a little off - this jumper is a size 'S Small' and it is quite big and long and I am a UK size 8-10. 

Get yourself down to H&M (or online) as they have some great products recently - or wait until the after christmas sale which will hopefully be even better!

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A Christmas Week In Photographs #2

Chocolate fingers -   Fried egg and potato waffles -   Macaroni cheese

Christmas Graze box -   Candles!  -   Christmas tree

Kawaii phone case  -  100% Russian on Rosetta Stone -   Top gear!

Lost Glossy Box Blusher

As you can see from this first three photographs, this week has consisted of a lot of comfort food - pasta, chocolate, hot chocolate, coffee, waffles...and so on. This week I also received my first Christmas graze box (Graze box is a weekly or fortnight subscription service whereby you receive a box of four, various food items such as nuts/seeds/flapjacks/Italian breads/cake/chocolate). I have also been burning a lot of candles this week - my Yankee Candle Eggnog tea lights to use them up and my bath and body works leaves mini candle (which I don't actually like :O ). We also put up our Christmas tree this week, which looks really pretty with glittery baubles (they had to be glittery!). Also my cute Kawaii popcorn phone case broke but on a happier note myself and my sister scored 100% on Russian grammar on Rosetta Stones online demo (Link Here). I have also been obsessed with Top Gear this week (Well for the past few months!) - The picture above shows Jeremy Clarkson's winning face (cute). On the day that my Christmas glossy box arrived I had a small catastrophe whereby the kyrolan for glossy box blusher fell into the mud and leaves (Panic over I did save it with some kitchen tongs). 

Hope you all had a great week (Only 9 days until CHRISTMAS!)

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Glossy Box: Christmas edition

I had unsubscribed to Glossy Box at the end of September, so I didn't received the amazing November box - it looked quite fantastic, but I have resubscribed to get the December/Christmas Glossy Box - and I am fairly impressed!

Firstly, I received six products from the brands: Sebamed, Mary Greenwell, Rituals, Seche, Sleek and Kryolan - the last three brands I have heard of and I was excited to see those brands included. Here are the products I received!

Firstly, the Sebamed hydrating body lotion, it comes in a small bottle (I mean really small) so it definitely wont last long but I am excited to use it as I do get really dry skin in the winter - although I would have preferred the face cream as this box included two body lotions. 

Staying with the theme of body lotions I also received the Rituals Magic Touch Cherry Blossom and Rice Milk Body Cream. I have been wanting to try some of the Rituals body products/fragrance for a while now but I need to work my way through the stash I already have but this looks like a great product and it smells really nice and clean too. A travel size of this product is available.

A fragrance sample is next and it is 'Lemon' by Mary Greenwell - I have not heard of this fragrance before and I really don't like the scent. The scent is a mix of lemon washing up liquid and my dads aftershave/cologne - not a great mix! 

Natural lighting

Now onto the Seche nail polish in the shade 'precious' which I was quite excited about even though the shade definitely isn't me, especially for this time of year but the shade turned out to be really pigmented which I wasn't expecting and it applies nicely. Although the nail bottle bottle does look a bit battered and worn for some reason. 

The blusher is swatched above as well. The blusher is by Kyrolan for Glossy Box and it is in the shade 'glossy rosewood' and it is a gorgeous shade. In the pan this shade looks quite bright and pale but on my skin is a pale dusky rose shade with purple/mauve undertones - it is actually really nice, smooth and pigmented.

Flash Photographs

The last product is a lipstick from Sleek, I haven't tried any Sleek products before. The packaging for the lipstick is great and the lipsticks come in various finishes. The product comes great but the shade is awful, in my opinion, and I definitely will not wear it so I am not going to swatch it as I am giving it to a friend. 

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Selfridges Advent Calendar: 9-14

Another blogmas post and it is a summary and mini review of the products I received in my Selfridges advent calendar for the days - 9th to the 14th!

I love this advent calendar, I will have to get a beauty advent calendar every year! There have been various beauty advent calendar this year to chose from including: Liz Earle, Ciate and Latestinbeauty. Now onto the products I received.

The product I received on the 9th of December is the Lancome Hypnose Star Mascara which I already have as a mini, now I have another mini version of the mascara. I received this product firstly, as a magazine sample and since then I have adored this mascara! With one coat of the mascara you get gorgeous (and I mean GORGEOUS) defined natural lashes but with two or more coats you get definition and volume! Although I wish Lancome made a waterproof version of this mascara as I only wear waterproof mascara, which is an essential really while living in England!

The next two products are also from Lancome (most of the products in this calendar are from Lancome). The second product I received is a mini lipstick from Lancome in the shade 302. I adore miniature beauty product so this is great and the packaging is very cute. Although the shade itself isn't really for me as I don't like baby pink shades as I find they can make my teeth look a bit yellow but the formula of this lipstick is very nice and smooth. The lipstick looks darker in 'real life' than it does in the image above - the lipstick looks lighter in the photographs above as I had to use flash. 

A second Lancome mascara was the third product I received and it is the Lancome Hypnose mascara. As with the Hypnose Star mascara I already have this as I received it in a gift set last year and I wish this mascara was waterproof as well as it is a nice mascara but not as good as the Hypnose star mascara. 

The fourth product I received was a sample of the Lancome Tresor Perfume. Firstly, I hate the bottle design, I think it looks so old fashioned and out dated. Although the scent is really nice, it is sweet and fruity - it smells quite like peaches which is nice. 

The fifth sample is the Lancome Genifique Youth Activator which I believe is an anti ageing serum - not a product I really need now as I am only 20! Although the packaging looks great for this product. 

The sixth and final sample in this post is a sample of the Armani Code Perfume which is a favourite perfume for a couple of my friends. The bottle is gorgeous and the fragrance is so nice and sophisticated scent - a floral, musky scent. 

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Unisex Christmas Gift Ideas: Mugs and USB's....

Here are a couple of unisex gift ideas - another blogmas post 

Batman mug: Newlook; Mushroom mug: Topshop

Firstly, mugs, I have a slight obsession with mugs, especially cute or novelty mugs! I bought the mushroom mug from Topshop earlier this year and I love it and they have bought them back (link here). This year there are other colours such as pink and blue but I think the red one is the cutest! They are really cute because they look like toadstool mushrooms...but also because the mushroom cap/lid can be removed and used as a coaster! The mini mushroom light next to the mushroom mug (you can see a theme developing!) is from Urban Outfitters (link here to my haul post). 

Next is a mug from Newlook and it is a GIANT Batman mug! The mug was stated as 'giant' on the website but when it arrived I didn't think it would be as big as it actually is. The mug is double the volume of a normal mug, holding about 500ml of liquid. I love batman, ever since I was a child so this is great for me  - it looks quite retro too and it would obviously be great for boys too. You can't really go wrong with a mug, especially cute novelty ones - urban outfitters make great mugs and Matalan too. 

Staying with the batman theme, I bought this cute batman usb memory stick (8GB) from eBay a week or so ago and I just love it. I think novelty usb memory sticks are great for men and women - they would make great little presents/stocking fillers for students! There are various designs such as pets/animals, spiderman, guitars, lego, cartoon characters and more!

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Mini Clinique Haul: Clinique Chubby Stick Intense!

I made an order with Clinique.co.uk about a week ago (or just less) and I received my order yesterday. I ordered one of the new Clinique Chubby Stick Intense Lipsticks in the shade 'broadest berry' which I wanted since I Sam from Pixiwoo used it in a tutorial - in her video it looked redder though which was a little bit disappointing but the shade is gorgeous anyway. I was tempted to make an order but then there was a promotion where you could pick FIVE samples from a selection so I had to buy something! 

My order included the new chubby stick intense and the samples I chose were as follows: Airbrush concealer (shade: 04 - you couldn't change the shade), moisture surge intense cream, take the day off make up remover, long last lipstick in the shade 'all heart' and another lipstick, the buttershine lipstick in the shade 'delovely'. The samples are very generous sizes and I think the lipsticks are full size, they are definitely not miniature! Here are a couple of swatches for the two free lipsticks I received (I didn't have to use a code to get the free samples). Both shades look gorgeous - the Delovely shade looks more browny bronze in 'real life'. Overall, I am very happy with the samples I chose and I am a bit surprised at how big the samples are too!

Natural lighting: Delovely shade looks a bit darker in 'real life'

Now onto the new chubby stick intense, probably the main reason you are here! Review and swatches below.

The packaging for a start is cute, simple and sleek which I love and the product its self is a giant crayon type product so it is very easy to draw onto the lips. The product has a really smooth texture, it glides onto the lips so easily and quickly. 

Natural lighting: shade looks a bit darker in 'real life' 

The product is also really pigmented, hence the name 'intense', the pigmentation is really good - the same or even better than my Revlon just kissable balm stains (comparison post between the two coming soon, if it would be helpful). The shade with one layer is a nice wearable berry/plum shade that looks like you have just been eating raspberries and blueberries! With two or more layers this shade goes from bitten/stained lips to full on vampy territory. The photographs above so this shade with two coats with with a little bit more this shade looks very plumy/deep pink. I love that you can more the shade more subtle or you can really build it up to be a full coverage, highly pigmented lip product. 

The product feels so nice, smooth and comfortable on the lips - it feels like I am just wearing a lip balm - which is good in one way as it doesn't feel heavy/sticky but on the other hand it does make me forget that I am wearing a sometimes highly pigmented lip product and I can smudge the product over my face! (not a good look if I am honest!). I haven't had this product long enough to talk about the longevity but in the short time I have had this product I would say that it does transfer to mugs/glasses fairly easily and I don't think the longevity would be great if you have to eating/drink at all while you are wearing it! I think one of these (or more!) would make great presents and the minis/samples would be good for stocking fillers too!

Positives: Easy/quick to apply, gorgeous shade (although it is a bit more plum/purple than I though it would be), feels light/comfortable on the lips, great pigmentation, flexible pigmentation and the packaging is great. 

Negatives: Price? and as the product feels so light on the lips I can end up smudging the product! 

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Kiko Lipstick Shade 10!

This lipstick is one of the many that I have from Kiko - Kiko is one of my favourite makeup brands! This lipstick is one of the Smart Lipsticks from kiko and it is shade number 10. These lipsticks would make great stocking filler and Kiko has a Christmas collection available online now.

Various lightings (flash, indoor, outdoor)

The lipstick is a gorgeous purple toned pink shade which has some tiny shimmer particles it in. The shade is buildable, you can just have one layer and blend it into the lips or you can layer the shade to get a strong bold lip. This shade is my favourite from Kiko, that I own, and I definitely plan on buying more! This shade is very wearable, it applies very smoothly and it has a good level of pigmentation - I usually only wear one layer of this lipstick. The finish of this lipstick is semi-matte, in my opinion, it has a very skin-like finish and texture. The longevity of this lipstick is quite good, I find that this shade does transfer to glasses/mugs etc but the shade lasts on my lips for about 4/5 hours.

Positives: Easy to wear, comfortable, great shade, pigmented, smooth texture, very cheap and good longevity.

Negatives: Availability (can be bought online but you have to pay £5 postage and there is only one store in London).

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A Christmas Week In Photographs #1

Mine & my sisters hair bows -  Thorntons hot chocolate -  Another coffee bites the dust

Rain rain go away -  Fog fog go away -  My attempt at galaxy nails #Fail

I know this post is a bit late as I have had other posts lined up for this week but here it is, my photographs for the first week of december. Anyway, this week has been a bit stressful as I had an assignment deadline (a 2000 word essay) and I have another one on wednesday but then I can relax a bit before the chaos of next year and my dissertation! This week has also been filled with hot chocolate and coffee, I can't seem to get enough of them - coffee to keep me awake and hot chocolate to relax and warm up. Especially as the weather in England has been horrible, rain, cold, (lots of) fog and some snow too. Hair bows and experimenting with nail designs have also been on the agenda this week with my first attempt at hair bows with my sister and my first attempt at galaxy nails...it didn't go well! 

I hope everyone had a great week and thank you to all of my new followers! x

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Lush Popcorn Lush Scrub Review

Another blogmas post but this time it is a review of the new Lush popcorn lip scrub which is part of their Christmas collection this year. 

Before this lip scrub I hadn't tried anything like this before (if you don't want to use a lip scrub/exfoliator, I used to use a toothbrush scrubbed over the lips which has a similar effect but lip scrubs are more effective, in my opinion - also you could make you own lip scrub). Anyway, I have been using this product on and off for about three weeks now and I love it! I put off buying the Lush lip scrubs for ages as I thought they were too expensive for what they are but this product is great and perfect for this time of year when my lips can get even more flaky than usual (horrible, I know!). 

To use: I just take a small amount (as shown above) and I rub it into my lips concentrating on the edges and corners of my lips as that is where my lips get quite dry/flaky. The instructions say that you can then lick the scrub off your lips and I have tried this but I really don't like the taste - it does taste to some extent like sweet buttery popcorn but it also has a plastic, artificial sweet taste. So I just wipe the scrub off with a wet flannel/cloth and this scrub leaves my lips so smooth and almost flake free. I then apply a lip balm, either my Nuxe Reve De Miel stick lip balm during the day or my Rodial Glambalm at night. 

Positives: Easy to use, smells nice, works really well overall and it is easy to remove 

Negatives: Availability, price, taste, in my opinion 

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Selfridges Beauty Advent Calendar: 1-8

Yet another blogmas post and on a different note I just wanted to say thank you to all of my new followers! Two weeks ago I only had 8 followers now I have 33, so thank you! 

Now, my Selfridges advent calendar, it is very expensive and it is definitely the most expensive advent ever! But this was a gift from my parents, I know I am very lucky and I wanted to share my thoughts on the products I received in the days 1 to 8 of the calendar. 

The first product I received was a sample of the gorgeous, and expensive, Viktor and Rolf Flowerbomb perfume. I have been looking to buy this perfume for a while now, as whenever I go to duty free I see mini sets of this fragrance although it is really expensive. The sample bottle is just adorable (I'm a sucker for miniature perfume bottles) and the fragrance is so nice - it smells quite sweet, floral and musky too. Maybe it is just me bit I can smell a bit of chocolate in there too! The scent is divine and I recommend that you give it a sniff when you are in a store that stocks this perfume. The second product I received is the Kiehls Ultimate Strength Hand Salve. This hand cream is just gorgeous, it has a very smooth texture, it applies so nicely/easily and it leaves my hands feeling so hydrated, velvety smooth and comfortable. The third item in the advent calendar is the Lancome Renergie Multi-Lift Anti-Wrinkle Cream and as I am only 20 I don't really need this yet but it looks quite expensive. 

 The fourth item is the Lancome Eau Micellaire Water. I am very happy to try any micellar water as they are fantastic makeup removers and I cannot wait to try this product - I haven't yet as I already have the second bottle of my Vichy Micellar solution on the go at the moment. Next I received a sample of the Shu Uemura Skin Purifier Cleansing Oil. I haven't tried a cleansing oil before (although I have a couple of samples) and I am excited to try this one as Shu Uemura make the best cleansing oils apparently. The sixth item I received is a sample of a fragrance I have been wanting to try since it was released, it is Diesel Loverdose perfume. Firstly, the bottle is divine, it looks so gorgeous and the perfume is so nice too. It smells like licorice, musky notes and it smells a bit like Illamasqua Freak. I do really like this fragrance but I don't think I will buy the full size. 

The seventh item I received was the new Lancome fragrance - Lancome La vie est belle. The bottle is adorable and so pretty and the fragrance smells really nice in the bottle but not as nice on the skin. On the skin this perfume smells floral but musky and it has a hint of sweetness - it is really generic though, in my opinion. The last item in the post, is the Kiehls Ultra Facial cream which I haven't tried yet but it looks great and it is a good sized a sample.  

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