July Favourites

Products I have been loving this month are:

Perfumes

Juicy Couture Viva La Juicy. This one just smell like summer to me and since we haven't been having much of one here in the Uk, this one helps my imagination!

Balenciaga Paris. I've been wearing this one in the evenings and the scent lasts for ages on me.

I also seem to have rediscovered Chanel's Coco Mademoiselle. I can't for the life of me decide why I stopped wearing this in the first place but it could definitely be making a come back as my signature scent!

Hair and Body

Moroccanoil Treatment. I love both the smell and the way it makes my hair feel.

Lush Vanilla Dee-Lite lotion. This one smells great (but is very strong smelling) and is not as heavy as previous lotions I have brought from Lush.

Facial Skincare and Cosmetics

Benefit's It Stick. I got this free with my Glamour magazine and at first I wasn't particularly impressed as it seemed really heavy, so I'm at a bit of a loss (scratches head!) as to how much I now seem to be using this. I obviously need to get more sleep so that I can revert to using my Touche eclat!

Neal's Yard Remedies Rehydrating Rose Daily Moisturiser. I seem to have developed really dry skin and this seems to be the only moisturiser that can calm my skin at the moment. (I'm open to alternative suggestions if anyone has any?)

By Terry Baume de Rose. Incredibly expensive but definitely a guilty pleasure for me.

Dior's Diorshow Extase Mascara. I was given this as a sample when I purchased the original Diorshow mascara and it is one of the best evening mascaras that I have tried. It actually makes my lashes so dark and full that I could be wearing falsies! I will definitely purchase a full size one when the sample runs out.

Neutrogena Visibly Clear Pink Grapefruit Facial Wash. Guess I'm a bit of a sucker for advertising here! I love the smell and it leaves my skin feeling really refreshed.

Mini Haul and a Makeover!

So... I was happily driving down the road the other day when I received a call (don't stress, I have handsfree!) from a lovely lady at Space.NK in Birmingham. What did she want? She wanted to know if I would like to go and meet their visiting Laura Mercier make up artists for a complimentary makeover.

Being a fan of that particular brand, I jumped at the chance and so Wednesday I toddled along to Birmingham. As always, I was made to feel very welcome.

I was introduced to their new colours and left looking appropriately made up for my evening at the cinema with my sister (god bless orange wednesday!).

The silver and peacock green eye shadows were beautiful on me but I didn't think that the lip colours were anything particularly special. Has anyone else seen them? Thoughts?

I also took the opportunity to do a bit of shopping whilst I was there and this is what I brought!

Days out: Stratford Upon Avon.

So this week I managed to visit another place that I had not been to since I was a child.

First impressions were that everything was a lot smaller than I remember but then I had not been there for 25 years!

I was pleased to find that it was really easy to park and that the attractions that we visited (Anne Hathaway's Cottage, Shakespeare's Birthplace etc) were really fairly priced.

About time...!

Yay! I finally managed to upload my first video to Youtube this week.

Hope you enjoy it. It was taken at the Kelly Clarkson Concert at the O2 Academy in Birmingham in February.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fykpnO-3jHo

June's Ins and Outs

In

Tv series that I've recently discovered, in particlular Castle and Lie To Me.
I could quite hapily watch either of these all day at the moment

Sunbathing. Yep, its that time of year again when I become a complete sun worshiper!

Books. Kind of comes hand in hand with the sunbathing thing and it seems that they have to be crime novels at the moment.

Christian Dior Diorshow mascara. One of the few mascaras that I've been able to wear all day everyday for a long time!

Out

Last series of 'The Hills'. Although Kristin Cavallari is growing on me she is still no LC!

Skincare products that, in this weather, seem to either dry out my skin or make me oily.

Lipgloss Queen

Are you like me? Do you find that when you look through your lip gloss collection (painful as that may be considering the money it represents) it becomes apparent that the majority of them are pretty much the same shade?


I made this discovery about myself recently. I was looking to follow lollipop26's lip gloss ban in order to use up some of the vast collection that I already have. (well we are in the middle of a recession so it makes sense, right?)


When looking through this vast collection, it became very clear that when it comes to lip gloss, I fall into two very distinct camps. Peachy Nude or Baby Pink.

So, I thought, why not pitch these many different brands but extremely similar colours against one another and see who comes out on top. This way when I do get around to purchasing another one I will know which counter to head to.



If you are interested keep reading for my results!



The contenders for this round are as follows:

In the Peach Nude corner we have
Mac lipglass in Prrr
Nars lipgloss in Orgasm
Benefit lipgloss in Life on the A list



In the Baby Pink corner we have
Chanel Cristalle gloss in N0 13
Jemma Kidd Make Up School Hi-Shine Silktouch Lipgloss in 06 Candy (bit of a mouth full!)




I will be comparing the following aspects: packaging, smell, how long the product lasted, if it made my lips dry out and last but not least, would I buy it again?


Lets get started!

Mac lipglass in Prrr - The packaging is fairly basic but still quite sleek. The applicator is fairly standard. It has a slight 'fudge' smell to it but its not over powering. The product applied well (it is fairly runny in consistency) and gave a nice, very shinny colour. It was a little sticky but did last a fairly long time (may have been due to no eating or drinking taking place during the test). I found that it was a little drying on the lips.


Nars lipgloss in Orgasm - As with the Mac lipglass, the packaging is fairly basic but still quite sleek and the applicator is fairly standard. It had no real smell or taste to it. The product was not particularly sticky and out of all the lip glosses tested had the most pigmented colour.



Benefit lipgloss in Life on the A list - The packaging on the Benefit lip gloss was super cute with a slightly different but still very effective (even though it is a little bendy) applicator. The product smelt (and tasted!) nice. However, if you are someone who is against fragrant products, this one is definitely not for you! The product is a little sticky when first applied but this didn't seem to last and it gave a nice hint of colour.

Chanel Cristalle gloss in N0 13 - The packaging on this lip gloss is basic but cute at the same time. Once again, the applicator is nothing particularly innovative. There is no real smell and the product isn't sticky but it does feel a little like it is going to slide off your lips and end up all over your face! The colour itself is very pretty, multi-faceted with a wet look finish.

Jemma Kidd Make Up School Hi-Shine Silktouch Lip gloss in 06 Candy - Apart from having the worlds longest name for a lip gloss the packaging, much like the Mac and Nars products, is unremarkable. Unlike the other two just mentioned, this product feels very plastic. It has a slight smell and taste to it but as of yet I have been unable to determine what it is. The colour itself is a pretty good dupe for the Chanel lip gloss and is obviously much cheaper.

In conclusion, If I were to purchase any of these products again I would probably choose the Mac Lipglass and the Benefit lip gloss. I think that the Mac product provided the best colour and durability and that the Benefit product came out best for appearance (and which girl doesn't want to pull something this cute out of her purse!)

Days Out: Warwick Castle

I hadn't been to Warwick Castle since I was a child so, when it was mentioned as an option for light Bank Holiday Monday entertainment, I jumped at the chance to go.

Walking through the gates of the castle is like stepping back in time. There was jousting and knights a plently!

The only way the day could have been any better was if I'd have had a small child to take with me to the 'Princess tower' so I would have looked less conspicuous in the long queue!