♥ Summer is here! TK Maxx bargains ♥

As summer is FINALLY here it seems I thought I would share with you my new sunglasses from TK Maxx! These beauties are Roberto Cavalli and cost £39.99! They were originally £330 so I think I have got a real bargain here. Unfortunately you can't buy them online, only in stores but worth going in and checking out your local store if you can. I have three pairs of Cavalli sunglasses now so think I am becoming a bit of an addict hahaha!

Has anyone else bought any bargains from TK Maxx recently? 


♥

Easter break!

Hope you all had a nice Easter break? I promise there are some beauty related posts to come but I thought I would post a few photos from my day out to Beer in Devon with my sister. As you can see from the photos, we were really lucky with the weather after having rain on Friday and Saturday! We had a great day eating loads of yummy Devon food - cream teas, cider and fish and chips! 

What did you get up to for Easter? 

♥

Herbal Essences Beautiful Ends review

If you're a fan of Herbal Essences, you'll be excited to know they have launched a new range called Beautiful Ends, which is targeted for people that have hair with split ends (who doesn't?!) Thanks to my straightening addiction, I do have a few split ends that I try to look after & ensure they don't get any worse. I recommend the Split End Protection Conditioner Red Raspberry & Silk which helps protect your hair against split ends and breakage. The smell is gorgeous, as you would expect containing raspberries, and also contains silk extracts to smooth hair. This is definitely my favourite range from the new Herbal Essence ranges (I LOVED the old ones a lot more) as it has a much more appealing smell and really helps keep my slightly dry hair smooth. The products are also priced under £4 so great value - thumbs up from me.

Who else has tried this new range - do you prefer the old-style Herbal Essences like me?

Nivea tinted day cream

Just a quick post tonight as I am off to watch a football game in ten minutes! I have been looking for a new tinted moisturiser for my holiday in a few weeks, and have found a great one from Nivea, my favourite skincare specialists. The NIVEA VISAGE Q10 PLUS ANTI-WRINKLE Tinted Day Cream is part of Nivea's proven Anti-Wrinkle Care System, working in two key ways to protect against daily external influences. What I love about it is it protects against sun damage with UVA + UVB protection SPF 15 and also works as a light foundation really brightening up your skin. I love the smell of this product, compared to other tinted moisturisers like Benefit's You Rebel which can smell a bit strange. It also really moisturises, which again other tinted moisturisers don't do so well. It's only £6 in Boots so I urge you to try this out - perfect for summer (when it finally arrives!)

xxx

Benefit Sugarbomb photos & review

I have read a few mixed reviews about Benefit's Sugarbomb, so was intrigued to try it out and have my say of course :P As I'm sure you know Sugarbomb has a mix of four gorgeous shades - peach, soft plum, shimmering pink and rose.  A few people have said that it doesn't provide good enough coverage for a blusher, but it's not actually a blusher it's a face powder, which is much better for me as blusher on my warm skintone can be a it scary!

I really love the gorgeous colour when all four shades are mixed together (see swatch above - sorry it's not too clear) which gives my face a nice, warm glow that blusher doesn't give me! I prefer Sugarbomb to other Benefit face powders like Dandelion, as it gives a stronger colour and shows up more, but is more subtle than blusher. Benefit products are pricey with this one costing £23.50 but it is unique and will last for ages, so well worth investing if you're not a blusher girl, more a highlighter girl like me! Plus the packaging is as cute as ever, which ALWAYS attracts me to Benefit products.

Who else is a fan of Sugarbomb?

Must have Liz Earle product - Instant Boost Skin Tonic

I know there have been loads of Liz Earle reviews as well on blogger, but I particularly love the Instant Boost Skin Tonic (£11) that I was sent to review which works great on my dry, dull skin this time of year! I must admit I don't also cleanse my skin correctly every night, as I am a bit lazy! I usually use face wipes (Tesco Vitamin E wipes) and then toner, followed by night cream. 

The Instant Boost Skin Tonic revitalises, soothes and brightens, is gentle and alcohol-free and adds a fine layer of moisture. I don't particularly love the floral smell BUT I love what it does to my skin so am happy to carry on using it!! It also contains conditioning natural source vitamin E, cucumber extract, calendula and organic aloe vera juice. Cucumber extract is calming, cooling and toning, calendula is ideal for sensitive skin and organic aloe vera juice moisturises, soothes and helps relieve sunburn which I can vouch for! As it has so many benefits for the skin, I definitely recommend trying out if you can only afford one product at the moment. The products also arrive beautifully wrapped, so would make a lovely gift for someone special. Apparently you can also buy it in a 30ml spritzer bottle, which would be perfect for long aeroplane trips. I also didn't realise Liz Earle is actually based on the Isle of Wight, which isn't far from me in Southampton! 

Who else loves this product from Liz Earle?

Vaseline Sheer Infusion review

I am loving the new Vaseline Sheer Infusion moisturisers, which contain amazing new Stratys-3 technology to give skin a hydration hit across all its multiple levels. Basically that means skin will stay moisturised for longer, will not appear greasy - as the cream won't sit on the top layer of our skin - so works deep down and really targets dry skin like mine. I really love how easily this can be applied to your skin and it literally melts in your hands - it is like silk!! It isn't thick at all, so is perfect for me! I have been using this for a month now to ensure that I have tested it thoroughly and have noticed a real improvement in my skin - especially how soft it is.

It is available in three varieties: Botanical Blend, Vitamin Burst, and Mineral Renewal for a bargain price of £3.33. I am hooked! What do you think?

Bourjois Healthy Mix review

I know there have been a few reviews of Bourjois’s Healthy Mix foundation and concealer, but as I love it so much I thought I’d write a short and simple post telling you to try this out! I missed the bloggers event a few weeks ago sadly, but was really keen in particular to try out this new foundation. The Healthy Mix foundation is Bourjois’s first radiance-boosting fruit therapy foundation, which provides flawless coverage but also looks after your skin and radiates it.

It contains four key ingredients:

Apricot > radiance

Melon > hydration

Apple > antioxidant

Ginger > energy

The foundation itself smells so good, just like apricots, which is so unusual for a foundation to actually smell nice! It also glides-on well and blends nicely into my skin, leaving a lovely natural, dewy finish. If you have oily skin, then this won’t be for you I would imagine as you may want more matte coverage. There is also a matching Healthy Mix concealer which I have been trying out – so far I am not as impressed with this compared to the foundation, as it is actually quite thick compared to my usual favourite touché éclat.

For £10 the foundation is great value and I will definitely be re-purchasing as my skin is looking much healthier since using. I can't wait to use this in summer too with a tan, as it is just as radiating as my favourite tinted moisturiser. Who else has tried this foundation and loved it? I have heard that Revlon's Photo Ready is also as good - what do you think?

New products from Jergens Naturals

American brand Jergens have introduced some new body moisturisers to their range - Total Nourishment and Cocoa Butter. I am big fan of Jergens, as their products are at least 95% natural and are priced under £5 so great value. 

My favourite is Total Nourishment, which contains 97% natural ingredients and is formulated with a healthy dose of yummy berries including cranberry, acai berries and blackcurrants known to promote skin health and fight against free radical damage. I love the smell of the moisturiser, thanks to the yummy berries and it really moisturises and nourishes dry skin like mine. It is also easy to rub into your skin and is not thick at all which I like, as thick body butters seem to take hours to rub in. For under a fiver I really recommend trying out - had anyone else tried Jergens and what do you think?

Aldi beauty products review - YSL Touche Eclat dupe!

I was sent a few products from Aldi to try out, which are all priced under £4. I thought I'd write a review about my favourite product from the range & the one I was most intrigued about before hand after hearing quite a lot about in the press - the Lacura Concealer Pen (£3.49) I am a Touche Eclat addict & swear by mine, but the £3.49 price tag, compared to £22 for Touche Eclat is too good not to try out. 

First impressions are the packaging is not as nice but I can deal with that as I don't always judge a product by its packaging ;-S According to the blurb, the light reflecting particles in this concealer pen are perfect for covering and concealing fine lines and dark shadows under the eyes - reducing signs of fatigue and tiredness. As you can see from my photo below, the concealer is actually quite thick and provides good coverage which I was really surprised at a I expected it to be quite thin and weak. It isn't as good coverage as TE but if you have young skin like mine then you don't really notice the difference.

Touche Eclat is available in three shades, 1, 2 and 3, where as the Lacura Concealer pen is available in two shades - Savanna and Cashmere. I actually have chucked the box out and the shade isn't written on the pen which is a bit frustrating if you can't remember what shade you bought This shade will be too light for me in summer, so I'll probably have to buy the darker shade then!

Overall I'd recommend this product as it costs £3.59 compared to £22 and the difference isn't worth £16! The real test will be too see how long the Lacura Concealer pen lasts, as my Touche Eclat does last quite a long time and doesn't dry up. So get down to Aldi and check out the beauty bargains - my boyfriend loves the anti-ageing night cream which is only £1.99. A couple of years ago this cream performed really well in a blind testing on a TV show (can't remember which one!) over all the expensive night creams!! 

Latest products from Maybelline

Maybelline have released a few new products recently, which haven’t actually been advertised as much as usual so you may not have heard about them. I love Maybelline mascaras usually, so have been looking forward to trying Falsies for ages after hearing about it a while ago. I love Colossus from Maybelline, but not Great Lash or Lash Stiletto as much but as Falsies is an extension of Colossus I knew I’d love it!

According to the Maybelline website, the Falsies Mascara delivers a false lash look; giving you a full set of voluminous, bold, fanned out lashes and the appearance of no gaps from any angle. The brush is slightly curved as well as you can see from the picture, so really helps to curl your lashes. I do prefer the slightly thicker brush of Colossus to build up lashes, but love the curled brush which is similar to Clinique’s Lash Curling Mascara. The Pro-Keratin and Fibre enriched formula is designed to deliver immediate results, distributing volume and visible intensity to your lashes. It’s priced at £7.99 and if you love Colossus you’ll love this mascara for thick lashes – I will definitely be re-purchasing.

The other product I tried out is the new Dreamy Creamy foundation, which looks very similar to Max Factor’s Miracle Touch Liquid Illusion Foundation. It promises to give 100% baby smooth skin, with up to 14hours hydration. Please note it has been specifically designed for normal to dry skin and is very moisturising so if you have oily skin then definitely do not try this or you will end up with a shiny face I’d imagine!!! I really love how soft this foundation is when applied to your skin and it blends easily when you apply it. Like a lot of Maybelline foundations, the coverage does ware of throughout the day but this is my favourite Maybelline foundation so far, simply for the hydrating element which suits my skin perfectly. Recommend for dry/dull skin types.

I have just seen on the Boots website as well they have 3 for 2 on all Maybelline products at the moment if you fancy trying out any of these products. Let me know what you think!

Bobbi Brown Make-up Facelift review

I was lucky enough to receive a complementary 'Make-up Facelift' from Bobbi Brown in Southampton a few weeks ago, which is available to anybody interested in finding out how to achieve a fresh-faced look. The Make-up Facelift collection has been designed to give women all the tools to look well-rested and bright eyed – in five minutes flat, so I was excited to find out how this could work for me.

I was greeted by the gorgeous Lisa, who first of all assessed my skin type and treated my skin with the Cleansing Oil, Soothing Face Tonic, and Hydrating Face Cream which left my skin baby soft. I was really impressed with the Bobbi Brown skincare products which I didn't know much about before this consultation so will definitely put these on my shopping list. When applying make-up on my face,

Lisa continually checked to see what shade suited me (See this great skincare colour chart to find your ideal shade.) I was really surprised that the Extra Light tint of the Extra SPF 25 Tinted Moisturising Balm, as I normally have medium toned skin, so definitely worth gaining professional advice before you splash out on a new foundation. I absolutely LOVE the Tinted Moisturising Balm which is a lightweight foundation alternative for dry, dehydrated skin. It smells amazing and doesn't feel like you're putting crap on your skin, it's just like moisturiser. The formula is ultra-rich, luxurious, and blends easily, giving skin a dewy, glowing look with light coverage. The SPF 25 helps protect skin against damaging UVA and UVB rays. Contains Glycerin, Shea Butter and Squalane, which deeply moisturise skin; Vitamin A and Carrot Extract, which help reduce the appearance of fine lines; and Angelica Seed and Chamomile Oil, which soothe and calm skin. If you only buy one product from then I recommend trying this out, I am a convert for life now!

Lisa also used some gorgeous, cult Bobbi Brown products in coral on my cheeks which I love. Firstly she used the Sheer Colour Cheek Tint in Sheer Coral on the apples of my cheeks, followed by the latest coral Nectar Shimmer Brick which was available previously in a mini size at Christmas. I normally go for more 'pinky' shades, so it was nice to try out some of my favourite products in new shades which I wouldn't have picked myself!

I really recommend visiting your local Bobbi Brown stand for a consultation, as the staff are extremely helpful and gave me some fresh ideas for my make-up as I usually go for the same colours and shades I am safe with. Admitally if you bought every product used you would be broke as they are not cheap, but it's still definitely worth paying a visit.

Has anyone else tried the new Facelift range and what do you think?

O My Rose from Lancôme

After reading about Lancôme’s Spring O My Rose range on British Beauty Blogger, I couldn’t wait to try some of the products out. It’s been out in stores since January and the key message from creator Aaron De Mey is extreme opposites, with camouflage green shadows mixed with peach blush as one example!

My favourite product which Aaron De Mey has uniquely created is the Khol Gloss which is available in three shades of the season: copper, sandy beige, and aqua green. Basically it is a blend of the strength of a khol and the shine of a gloss. I have been using the copper shade on my lower eye lids and I love how smooth and long-lasting the gloss is. At first I wasn’t too keen on the Orange Scopitone shade of the Colour Fever Gloss but it has grown on me a lot as it is different from my usual pink lipglosses in my handbag. The Colour Fever glosses are ultra shiny and have shine reflecting pigments in them which are gorgeous.

Although the snow may be making an unwelcome appearance still, spring is on the way and this collection definitely confirms this!!

Has anyone else tried products from the O My Rose collection and what do you think?

Clinique's Spring Collection 2010

Here are a few shots of Clinique’s gorgeous new Spring 2010 collection, which doesn’t disappoint. My favourite piece is the new limited edition Fresh Picked Eye Shadow, which comes in two must-have shades for the season, Fresh Picked Berries and Fresh Picked Pear. As a 'pink' girl, I love the Fresh Picked Berries shadow (£18.50) which has two gorgeous berry shades - I love the lighter of the two and wear it all the time during the day as it is so smooth. The darker colour is great for an evening look, applied on the top of your eyelids.

I am also going to try out the new High Lengths Mascara (£14.50) which looks a lot like Maybelline's Define a Lash and 'combs' lashes right to the end. I normally use mascaras that give lashes volume, so will be interesting to see how it fairs! Has anyone else used this mascara yet and what do you think?

No7 Natural Radiance Highlighter

As the evenings are getting lighter it is starting to feel a little bit more springlike(the cold temperatures aren't!) I thought I would review Spring collections this week from my favourite brands. No7 have some gorgeous limited-edition products that have just been released for Spring and I thought I'd share my favourite with you. The No7 Natural Radiance Highlighter (£13) is amazing and so lightweight and soft which you don't get with a lot of highlighter powders. The coverage is very sheer and contains minerals and brushes on beautifully to gently highlight and sculpt your face, neck and décolletage. The end result is a translucent, luminous finish that looks perfectly natural - perfect for a 'fresh' spring look. And it’s all wrapped up in stunning, semi-precious stone-inspired packaging which I hope you can see from the first photograph is beautiful! All the Spring Collection products are available in Boots stores until March and online here.

Has anyone else tried products from No7 for spring?

New Olay products

I thought I’d let you know about the latest new products from Olay to hit the market that are completely innovative and are amazing. My particular favourite is the new Definity Colour Enhancer which is a moisturiser, serum and foundation all in one! The unique 3-blend formula goes beyond reducing the look of wrinkles to fight discolouration and brown spots and gives you sheer, even finish too. An SPF 15 moisturiser + anti-ageing serum + sheer foundation, it smoothes out your skin tone, reduces the appearance of wrinkles and gives you an instantly radiant complexion and great coverage. It is pricier than Olay’s standard products at £29.99 – but then it does contain 3 products all together including SPF15!

Olay have also launched the Regenerist Daily 3 Point Treatment Cream, which claims to deal with hard-to-treat areas - the eyes, jaw line and neck. It contains Olay's most concentrated amino-peptide formula ever and is well worth trying out if you suffer from wrinkles. I’m a bit too young to vouch for it making a massive difference but my Gran is a big fan and loves the smell and texture and would recommend it.

I hope that helps if you are looking at trying out the new products from Olay!

New id luxury brush range - powder brush

I love the new luxury make-up brush range from New ID Cosmetics, which have been created with synthetic fibres unlike most professional brushes which are manufactured using animal fur. The synthetic fibres have been specially manufactured to be softer than any natural hair, which is true as the powder brush is SO soft and I love brushing it on my face! It is not as big as my powder brush at the moment but I love the super soft feeling when you apply powder to your face now. The powder brush is priced at £30 which I think isn't too bad value for a luxury make-up brush.

Who else has tried the new luxury range - thoughts?

Underwear for Valentines!

I have been planning this post all weekend, writing about Valentines Day ideas but instead I am so excited as my team Southampton have been draw against our arch rivals Portsmouth in the FA Cup on Valentines Day!! Sorry for all you non-football fans but it is very exciting for me - not the most romantic of Valentine's Days!

Anyway I have been looking for some new underwear and LOVE the new collections by my favourite brand Freya, who offer sizes up to J. It has got a gorgeous pink bow on the bra and I love the shape. Check out some of their collection on offer at Figleaves here.

I am loving...Estee Lauder Double Wear Stay-in-Place cream eyeshadows

Ok winter is definitely on the way out, I have decided! This week has been a lot warmer so I have been experimenting a bit more with some brighter colours!! I received samples of the new Double Wear Stay-in-Place cream eyeshadows before Christmas but because of the cold horrible weather I haven’t been out much to try them out!

There are some gorgeous shades available that I love – Pink Amethyst and Vintage Violet are my favourite and look great worn together thanks to the creamy formula that blends easily on your eyes. The cream eyeshadows also don’t leave creases and lines which so many cream eyeshadows do – this annoys me so much as by the end of the day you just have lines of coverage. They are fairly pricey at £15 but well worth it for the quality of colours and texture. I did attempt to swatch them and take photos but they didn't come out too well – if you check out the Estee Lauder site you’ll see how gorgeous the colours are yourself.

Vichy Essentielles range review

I know there have been a few reviews from bloggers about the new Vichy Essentielles range but as I have been using some of the products for the past few weeks and really like them, I had to post about them too. Firstly, the packaging is gorgeous and matches my orchid in my kitchen perfectly (look at the photos!).

The reasonably priced range (all products are under £9) is for all skin types to be used on a daily basis to help hydrate, protect and reveal skin’s radiance. The products are enriched with Rose Gallica extract, soothing Alantoin, nourishing Shea Butter, hydrating Glycerin and soothing and fortifying Vichy Thermal Spa Water and smell gorgeous. My favourite product is the Essentielles Emulsion which is a gorgeous radiance boosting day cream priced at £8.50, and is so soft on my skin. I haven’t found much online about the new range online but it is exclusively available to buy from Lloydspharmacy now.

Garnier tinted Eye Roll On

Hot off the press - Garnier are launching a tinted version of their Eye Roll-On which contains mineral pigments to cover up dark circles under your eyes. It looks like it will be a budget version of YSL's legendary Touche Eclat, priced at £9.99 rather than a hefty £24.00! You can exclusively pre-order at Boots now if you can't wait for it to be in stores end of January. Has anyone else got their hands on one of these yet?

Tigi Leave-in Moisture Spray

As I am sure you know I love Tigi Haircare products and my must-have product has always been the Health Goddess spray that all the hairdressers used to use. The smell is amazing and it is a great leave-in conditioner and protector against heat damage. A a few weeks ago I ran out of the 4 cans of Health Goddess I bought at the Clothes Show last year and went to order some online and found it has been discontinued which was pretty distressing!

However I am pleased to say I have found a suitable alternative from Tigi, thanks to the lovely Karleen at Tigi who kindly suggested I try the S-Factor Papya Leave In Moisture Spray (£13.30). It claims to detangle, tame frizz and nourishe your hair leaving it smooth to touch and gleaming with health. On first impressions and having used for a few weeks, I am pleased with results so far. It contains Hydrolysed Soy Protein and Keratin Amino Acids (which are known for leaving hair sleek) to repair and strengthen hair whilst Vitamins A & E nourish and feed hair back to health.The smell is lovely (not as nice as Health Goddess though sorry!!) and really leaves your hair feeling extra sleek. A little bit also goes a long way too, so I will imagine one bottle will last you a long time.

So if you have dry, thick hair like mine then I definitely recommend trying this product - especially if you are upset like me of the discontinuance of Health Goddess!

I'm back! Photos from my holiday to Germany

Hi everyone - Happy New Year! I hope you all had a lovely Christmas and New Year and the first week back at work isn't too stressful! I got back last night from a lovely relaxing 'cold!' break in Germany with my boyfriend, where it was about -5 most of the time! We had a lovely time eating lots of traditional German Christmas food and drinking lots of wine, whilst visiting some lovely German towns including Bad Homburg and Frankfurt of course. We also had lots of snow as well, which was loads of fun and much better than snow here as it doesn't melt and ice up like snow in England!

I also came back with some new beauty products that I bought in Germany... of course! Look how excited I am in the photo!! I picked up my usual Schwarzkopf Gliss Kur Blond shampoo and also purchased Nivea Blond Highlights shampoo to compare - has anyone tried the Nivea Haircare range and what do you think? You can't buy it currently in the UK, same with the Schwarzkopf shampoo so will be interesting to see how German shampoos measure up!

Take care in the snow tonight, it is coming down hard in Southampton at the moment...

Merry Christmas Everyone!

Hi guys hope everyone has an amazing Christmas! Enjoy the holidays and I'll be back very soon with some updates! I am off to Germany for New Year as well so will keep try to blog as much as I can! Thanks for all your kind words and support! xxxxxx

Cupid and Grace - perfect for hair lovers

If you are still looking for the perfect gift for a hair lover, then I have found the perfect site called Cupid and Grace that just sells hair products. Yes it is heaven and I want everything on there! I am a total hair junkie and am really impressed by the amount of professional hair brands that are on offer - Tigi, Keune (love their shine spray), Schwarzkopf and also electrical brands such as Babylis and GHD. They also offer loads of men's gift ideas as well - the Kent for Men Wet Styler I ordered for my boyfriend has been a real success for him and it only cost £7.95. I also ordered the much talked about Babylis Conical Wand in pink! for £28.95 which I can't wait to try out and review once my broken finger has healed. My order arrived really quickly and I was also emailed regularly about the status of my order, which is very reassuring especially this time of year! The packaging was also really nice and had a few personal touches inside the box - overall the service is excellent and much better it seems that bigger rivals HQ Hair which other bloggers seem to have issues with.

Don't worry you can also still order in time for Christmas up to 2pm on Wednesday 23rd December by choosing the next day delivery service at checkout!

Gadget gifts for him from Braun....ok one tested by me!

Hope you are enjoying the weekend and my gift guides so far! I have struggled so far to find presents for my Dad and Boyfriend, so thought I would write about two great Braun products that are currently half price or less in Boots, so are a bargain as well!

I was originally asked to review the new Braun Triumph 5000 Power toothbrush so wanted to try it out properly in order to give an accurate review. This latest toothbrush from Braun comes complete with a digital smart guide and has 8,800 rotations and 40,000 pulsations a minute. It also has 5 modes - daily, sensitive, deep clean, polish and massage mode, so you have plenty of options for dentist-clean teeth every morning. It is reduced to £62.50 in Boots at the moment and I must say I have always been sceptical of spending loads of money on a electric toothbrush but it is so worth it. I couldn't go back to a normal toothbrush now, as it leaves my teeth really clean and my dentist has even noticed as well. So an investment of £62.50 would definitely pay off in the future as you have healthier teeth and don't need as many fillings. My boyfriend has tried to steal this off me several times, so I know a lot of men would really love this as a gift!

For lazy men, I recommend the new Braun Series 3 wet n' dry shaver (£48.94), which has been designed with the Monday morning shave in mind! The foil head cuts long and short hairs in one stroke, reducing skin contact resulting in less skin aggravation. Plus it can be used in the shower apparently - just don't drop it on your foot. It also comes complete with a stylish travel bag and charging stand, so makes a nice gift as well and won't make your bathroom look messy!

Hope this is useful, it will certainly make the man in your life a lot happier than getting a pair of socks!!