Birchbox // July 2015

So so late with this one, but couldn't not share the contents of my lovely Birchbox!  July's 'Make a Splash' theme Birchbox (which actually came in a bag) was the summer holiday prep edition. With four varieties in the mix: orange for St Tropez, pink for Ibiza, Green for Hydra and yellow for Somerset, I received the lovely pink one!

My 'Ibiza' bag contained: the Balance Me Congested Skin Serum, Unani Aloe Vera Gel, POP Beauty Eyeshadow trio in Peach Parfait, the Benefit Dream Screen, Jelly Pong Pong Glow Getter Luminiser Gel, and the Lifestyle item this month was a Pura Vida Headband in Aqua.

Overall thoughts: I really like the super handy clear bag, especially love it because it's pink (and coincidentally I've not long returned from a lovely holiday to Ibiza myself. Overall I think it was a good mix of products, particularly the luminiser gel (I'm really loving highlighter at the moment)and the Balance Me serum, which are my favourites from this box.

Birchbox // May 2015

This month's Birchbox incorported a creative 'Free Your Mind' theme where you got the opportunity to decorate your own box as May's design came as blank white canvas full of lovely patterns.

My May Birchbox contained: the Caudalie Vinoperfect Radiance Tinted Moisturiser, WAH London Nail Polish in Red, Parlor by Jeff Chastain Moisturising Sea-salt Spray, Jelly Pong Pong Caribbean Sun Bronzer Duo in Matinique, Absolution Youth Activator Mask, Number 4 Lumiere d'Hiver Reconstructing Masque and as a bonus, a set of colouring pencils was included - to decorate my box :)

Overall thoughts - reasonably pleased! (last month's box was difficult to live up to so I had pretty high expectations haha :P). I'm most looking forward to trying out the Caudalie tinted moisturiser and the sea-salt spray - which will be a perfect size to take away on holiday this summer.

Love You Long Time

 

Seeing as I missed the boat for favourite products of 2013, I thought I would do a round up of my favourite and most used product over the past 12 months or so. Many of these have been on the scene for years and years and will always have a prime spot in my makeup bag.

 

 

 

 

Miscellaneous products

 

Batiste Dry Shampoo in Cherry. Batiste is a trusty old friend, always there to save the day, especially when you’re having a bad hair day. Great for on the go kind of girls, perfect to freshen up your hair and give it a bit of a boost.

Soap and Glory Rich and Foamous Body wash. Smells amazing! This is perhaps one of the nicest body washes I have tried in a very long time. It lathers really well and smells like almonds, with a hint of vanilla.

Rimmel SunShimmer fake tan. Fake tan for me tends to be very ‘hit and miss’ and this has definitely been a hit. If applies fairly evenly and the colour selection is just perfect, definitely more bronze toned rather than orange. This particular one is in the shade Fair Matte but my all-time favourite is Light Shimmer.

 

Eyelure false lashes in 145. Eyelure lashes are some of my absolute favourite, so many styles to choose from and the glue is brilliant. MY favourite at the time usually alternate from 140 and 145, but for the majority of the past 12 months 145 seem to be taking the lead.

Calvin Klein Euphoria perfume. Amazing! Highly recommend you try it!

Jelly Pong Pong Blush brush. Purchased at the Clothes Show, many many years ago, this lovely brush finally made it into my make up bag, ready for everyday use. It is really soft and perfect for applying blusher evenly. 

Bath and Body Works hand sanitizer in Mojito. Cannot describe how lovely this smells! Gutted there isn’t a Bath and Body Works in the UK… I would probably be in one every day!

 Eyes and Lips

MUA Palette in Undressed. Priced at an absolute bargain price of £4, I initially did not expect much but was pleasantly surprised with the great colour pay off from all of the colours in this palette. This would be a perfect product for someone who is just starting out in make up and wants to expand their collection.

 Maybelline 24 hour colour tattoo in Turquoise forever. Beautiful colour intensity with amazing staying power (even without primer!).

Bare Minerals eye shadow in High style and snazzy. Absolutely amazing eye shadows wit brilliant staying power. These can be worn just as a mineral powder but I prefer to apply them slightly wet for an added boost of colour intensity.

 

MEMEME Eyesweep eyeliner pen. Perfect for drawing thin lines, especially in the inner corner of your eye. Would highly recommend! 

Soap and Glory Thick and Fast Mascara. Absolutely loved this in 2013. Having only really associated Soap and Glory with lotions and various bath and shower products, it was nice to expand my collection and try some of the cosmetics in the range.

Rimmel Colour Show Off Lipstick in 020 Shake up pink.  This is an oldie but goldie, such a pretty Barbie pink colour and lasts reasonably well.

Pomme Granate lip balm from H&M. This is an absolute gem! Bought on a whim one cold, cold evening in Boston, this lovely lip balm has saved by lips from the brutal American winds.

 

 

 

The Long Overdue Clothes Show Live 2013 Haul

I can't believe it has taken so long for me to finally get this post up, so sorry for the delay! In December I attended the Clothes Show Live at the Birmingham NEC. This year was the 25th Anniversary of the Clothes Show and the fashion show definitely lived up to that, in my opinion. The designs featured on the main catwalk were absolutely stunning, featuring plenty of fur and sequins... my two favourite things! I didn't get a chance to take many photos of the exhibitors as my arms were practically falling off with all the shopping I had been carrying. Having been a couple of times before, I was really excited for what was in store and hoped I had prepared accordingly. The venue was split into sections, including the Beauty Hall, Fashion Halls and of course Fashion Theatrem, with several smaller catwalks dotted around the various halls. A big highlight for me definitely was seeing some of my favourite Made in Chelsea stars.

Needless to say I went a little crazy and seemed to buy everything in sight! Be prepared this post is gonna be a long one! (P.S. I think I now have a lifetime supply of nail polish)

Ciate Mini Mani Month

I've been dying to get my hands on some Ciate polishes but as they are a little pricey I couldn't really justify spending that much on a nail polish when I already have so many. Instead, I went complete overboard and purchased an entire collection! The Ciate advent calendar contains 24 items including nail polishes, nail beads/caviar and nail glitter. The set also comes with a little funnel to help apply the nails beads, how cute?!

 

Bare Minerals
I absolutely love Bare Minerals but some times feel a little hard done by when parting with so much cash for products which are reasonably small. The Bre Minerals stall was offer a number of goodie bags, priced at £5, 10 and £20 containing a variety of lovely products. I decided to go for the larger goodie bag as it contained the products which I'd get the most use out of.



SPF15 Powder Foundation in Medium Beige - I've never tried a Bare Minerals foundation efore, or any powder foundation before, so this will definitely be fun to try.

All Over Face Colour in Bare Radiance - A gorgeous all over illuminating powder.

Natural lipgloss in Chiffon- which is a shimmery golden brown colour.

Angled Face Brush

Handy kabuki Brush





 Barry M
Every year I have been, the Barry M goodie bags are definitely one of the ones I have to look forward to the most. Price at an outrageourslu amazing price of £10, you receive 12 items, containing a variety of Barry M products. I got two goodie bags, one for a present and here is what was in mine:




Nail Paints in 264 Pink Iridescent - which is the sparkly pinky peach colour, 288 Silver, Limited Edition SLE 2013 B - which is the neon green and a Limited Edition effects in Lilac foil - which is the metallic purple colour.

Retro Nail Paint in Retro 2 Blue

Dazzle Dusts in 100 - which the gold/bronze shade and 21 which is the dark black with a hint of purple (will need to do a full review on this to figure out what colour it actually is)

Supersoft Eyecrayon in No 5 - Lilacshade

Kohl pencil in 16 Baby blue

Glitter stick in Gold

Intense black mascara 3 in 1 - 'volumises, lengthens, curls'

Lipgloss in a Medium Pink (shade unknown)

The two goodie bags were quite similar in terms of product content, just with varying colours.
 







Jelly Pong Pong
I have never actually seen Jelly Pong Pong on sale anywhere apart from the Clothes Show and online, so picking up one of their goodie bags was a must. The goodie bags were an absolute bargain, at only £5 for 4 items! Having had the most amazing juicy Jelly Pong Pong lipgloss before, I was definitely up for trying out some new products . The goodie bag contained: 



Wide Awake - a palette of skin enhancing colour tools to brighten and illuminate complexions.

Carribean Sun Bronzer duo - a cheek duo containing a deep bronzer and a blusher.

Lip Blush - a moisturising lip stain crayon in Marshmallow (a medium pink kinda colour)

2 in 1 Eyeliner and Shadow in a plum colour







So Susan Skincare . Colour. Performance
The Clothes Show is great for discovering new brands which you otherwise may not get a chance to come across. So Susan was one of them. it seems to be a sister company of jelly pong pong, with very similar design ideas. the goodie bag was very similar, also a bargain £5 for 4 items, containing:



8 Hour Cheek Stain - in a reddish/pink shade

Water-based Pure Luminizer - a highlighter, intregued t find out how matt or shimmery it actually is, will do a full review once i start properly using it.

Intense Eye Shadow Palette with Coated Pigments - containing four shades - a brown. The colours here are not really the sort I would normally wear so I'm not sure what I'm going to do with it yet.

Lip Balm, which is actually an orange toned red lip and cheek crayon.



Models Own
Models Own also had a pretty appealing package on offer, as you were able to choose any 3 nail polishes in addition to the rest of the kit, for just £10. I spent a good while at this stall trying to pick the ones I loved the most and eventually settled with the n ail polishes in Southern lights, Catherine Wheel (post can be found here)and a Smash Up polish in Black. I've never actually tried the crackle polishes or anything similar, so why not!



The Models Own kit contained :

Special Clothes Show Live edition polish in Show Stopper 2

Lipstick in Sheer sparkle

Moisturing Lipbalm in Bubblegum

Cream eyeshadow in Mash up mauve

Eyeliner pencil in Black

Eyeliner pencil in Brown

Chunky eye pencil in Black with silver glitter (name unknown)

Complete with a nail buffer and some sponge eye shadow applicators.

Rimmel London
At first I was in two minds over the Rimmel London goodie bags this year, but I think I prefer small Rimmel goodie bag as I do not use that many Rimmel profucts so this was ideal. 



The Retro Glam set contained:

Scandaleyes Mascara in Black

Salon Pro Nail Polish with lycra in 393 Desire

Sunshimmer Water resistant fake tan in Medium matte

A sample size sachet of the Wake Me Up Foundation in 201 Classic Beige

The Electro Glam kit was brought for a present so I haven't opened it up. It also containted a sachet of the Wake Me Up Foundation and the Sunshimmer fake tan, but came with a red Salon Pro polish and a Lash Accelerator mascara.



Mint London

This is a brand I'd never heard of but thought I would try it out as the goodie bag was such a steal. The offer allowed you to select 4 nail polishes and the rest of the items were in a prepacked. Tee lovely lady who served me also threw in a pot of glitter as I was being indecisive on whether I should get the goodie bag or not.





Bomb Cosmetics

 This stall was giving off the most deeelicious scent which couldn't help but draw me in. With so much to choose from, I decided to go for some bath bombs in Appleberry, Vanilla and Honey and Santa's Grotto Brulee.





So that's about it. Sorry it's such a long post, hope you enjoyed it! If have been to the Clothes Show this year in previous years, let me know what you thought!