New Release: Bourjois rouge edition velvet

For me, Spring always comes along with bright colours and pastels.  So it's bye bye to the deep red and berry lips and hello to brighter shades; enter Bourjois rouge edition velvet in Hot Pepper.

These liquid lipsticks have got the whole gloss to matte formula down to a tee.  They apply smoothly with an easy doe foot applicator, are very pigmented and set in a minute to a matte finish that DOES NOT BUDGE!  I wore this for a whole day, through a few meals and by the time I got home it was still noticeably there, inside my lipline and not on my teeth.  Yes, it may have faded a little bit but nicely so, it was still evenly pigmented and just looked a little sheerer.

The texture of this is not what I am used to, it feels almost balmy when applied and then drys so that it feels as if you are wearing nothing at all which I really love.

Hot pepper is a bright orange toned red, a shade I have been wanting for a while now.  But if you don't fancy that there is a more neutral red, a bright pink and a few almost-nude shades which are a bit more 'meh' in my opinion,  I would defiantly opt for the brighter ones.

At £8.99 each they are hardly the most expensive product out there but maybe not best for those on a tight budget.

I highly recommend these to anyone looking for a bright, matte lip that stays all day!

A post-holiday pamper

Happy Easter Monday everyone!

Over the past 10 days I have been away in lovely sunny Lanzarote and after 10 days of heat and a super late flight (landing at 1:00am, eeekkkk!) my skin hair and nails were in need of a good ol' pamper.

In the shower I used my L'oreal intense repair hair masque which not only smells really good, but also nourishes your hair making it feel so soft!

I then used a few pumps of my favourite hair serum; the KIKO restorative hair serum (this one is pretty much the same).  This stuff is a godsend, I swear!  It helps to keep split ends at bay and your hair silky smooth.

Next job; skin.  After giving my skin a good cleanse I used a sample of The Body Shop's Vitamin E Sink-in moisture mask.  This is by far the most loved range by The Body Shop and I am not one to disagree, my skin just drinks up every product I have tried!  Including this mask which has a creamy consistency and feels very cooling on application.  It left my skin feeling smooth and plump giving it just the boost it needed.

And the final step; perfectly polished nails.  Nail polish has been my most recent addiction and I have bought far too much but after a while of thought, I decided on my KIKO nail lacquer in the shade 385 Pastel Blue because it has some brightness, alike the new models own collection which is known to compliment tans, but a little more toned down. I'm not ready to sport a bright neon shade just yet!  I took a little extra time doing my nails than usual and I have to say, it really makes all the difference.

After all that, I think I am just about ready to face the miserable British weather and piles of revision work!

Review: the body shop big and curvy mascara

Over the years I have tried and tested my fair share of products from The Body Shop and loved them all! But from lipsticks to shampoo to body butter, I have never come across a product surrounded by so much controversy as this!  If you take a look on The Body Shop website, you will see that this mascara is labelled as a 'best seller', however after looking through the reviews I found this very misleading.

The reviews are mixed, its defiantly the marmite of mascaras, love it or hate it I thought I would share my own opinions;  the first thing that I noticed about this mascara was the wand, nothing too shocking but I rarely see a skinny wand with fibers (like a brush rather than a comb).  The wand picks up plenty of product, too much in some cases and can cause my lashes to clump together, but other times I have used it is has created lovely, long, natural looking lashes, never much volume though

As non-waterproof mascaras go, this one is pretty long lasting and holds a curl well (I don't curl my lashes often though).

One use that I love for this is on my bottom lashes, every time it subtly defines and lengthens them without smudging at all!

Overall, it's nice enough but doesn't give such a 'wow' feeling as others I have tried.  For £10 (not exactly the cheapest) I think there are plenty of other mascaras that are better than this, but who knows?  This might be the one you fall in love with?

Have you tried this mascara?