Monday 28 February 2011

Boots No7 Skincare Giveaway! - CLOSED

If you haven't done so already please don't forget to enter my giveaway here which has now been extended to 10th March!

Items to win are:


Good Luck! :)

Review: Lush Lip Scrub in "Sweet Lips"

I love this lip scrub! The taste/smell is very yummy and luxurious, it was my favourite out of all their available lip scrubs, this one is called "Sweet Lips" and contains vanilla extract and cocoa absolute - YUMMY! It also has jojoba oil and flavouring.

In terms of effectiveness as a product to be honest I don't think it's a miracle worker, I try and use it as much as possible and there's still so much left, I love that it's all natural and suitable for vegans, and I really enjoy licking off the scrub after I'm done with it, although initially I struggled with it, (I thought it was really weird...).

The only issue I have with it, is that as opposed to scrubbing my lips I find that it softens them so much that any scrubbing of flakiness or dry bits doesn't occur, but I'm not complaining about the softening properties...

I give this scrub 8/10 :)

Thank you for reading! (Scroll down for more pictures)



Friday 25 February 2011

Review: Soap and Glory The Fab Pore 15 Minute Facial Peel


This facial mask/exfoliator/peel is really effective in terms of what it says it will do. It is available at Boots and other retailers for £7.15.

Soap and Glory say that this is best for "greasy, spot prone or problem skin, or for a strategic attack on a misbehaving T-Zone." They also add details about their "Poreshrink-R Complex", which contains the following:
  • "Fomes Officinalis Extract: A mushroom extract to tighten pores.
  • Salicylic Acid: which loosens up the dead cells that contribute to pore clogging
  • Kaolin: That’s ‘cosmetic’ for clay. It sops up extra oil on your skin and smooths your skin’s surface!
  • Vitamins E & C: Antioxidants. Just because you’re oily, doesn’t mean you’re not aging"
My opinion:

This is an effective scrub/mask/everything to do with your face, the formula/texture is soft and creamy and has little blue/green beads that you rub into your skin while applying the mask and they burst. This is a fun process - burst every bead or you can't start timing the entire 5/15 minutes for the mask, depending on which you choose.

When the mask is on, it doesn't dry so you can still move your face fortunately - woo! I usually keep it on for 15 minutes because I feel it does a slightly better job than leaving it on for only 5 minutes.

After you take the peel off I've always found that it leaves a white-ish residue on my skin and all of a sudden I have a lot of skin sort of "peeling" off, especially around my T-zone. I think this is what they mean by the "peel" but I really don't like that part and scrub especially hard to get the flaky skin off and moisturise loads too. The positive points are that it's effective, it does what it says, peels my skin...it also evens out my complexion really well which is something I hadn't found in a mask/scrub/peel before, and it looks like I have fewer blemishes. These are the immediate effects only though.

After a few months of using it, (I'd say 3 months, I didn't use it 2-3 times a week, probably 1-2 times) I found my skin to look more even in tone but I didn't notice any other majorly favourable changes. My T-zone remains as oily as it chooses to be and my blemishes are still present sadly, but generally, overall skin does look better.

I found picking a rating quite difficult as it does a useful job but not exactly what it claims or what I expected and it's slightly more in price than I'd like to pay...probably a 7/10.

Thank you for reading, please leave your comments below, have you tried this? PASS/FAIL? :)

Monday 21 February 2011

The Makeup Ban - Exchange No1

Hi!

I have finally finished 3 products so I was fortunately authorised to purchase another beauty item (thank goodness! I've been struggling!), to read about my makeup ban please click here.

The 3 I finished:


This magically resulted in the following appearing! :o

BeautyUK's Glam Nails Nail Polish in Smokey Lilac - No51 for £1.99 at Superdrug, I have yet to try it but hopefully it'll be good! :)

Thank you for reading, nav x

Thursday 17 February 2011

Question: Do you use Eye Cream?

I don't...but I probably should! I'm really worried about messing up the skina round my eyes though and as an 18 yr old at the moment I don't think I need it...

What about you? :)

Review: E.L.F Cosmetics Studio Blush in "Mellow Mauve"


An e.l.f studio blush costs £3.50 for 4.75g/0.168oz and is most definitely one of the greatest blushes I have used to date.

The Packaging: The packaging is very sturdy and I love the compact styling, I think it's similar to Nars - but I haven't tried any of their blushes yet. I kept it in my handbag for days (I forgot it was there!) And the little pocket was completely fine afterwards, no extra powder anywhere either. It also has a tiny horizontal mirror in it which I think is quite handy albeit small.



The Colour: The colour I chose is "mellow mauve" which is a deep pinky colour, (sorry for the not great picture!) It's very pigmented because I always manage to get too much on my face and have to blend for about 2 minutes! It does have a bit of shimmer in it which is pleasant but not overwhelming, and only shows up very clearly if you decide to put a ton of it on. I would also think that this would suit all skin tones, depending on how much you layer on.



The Texture: I found the texture to be nice and soft, doesn't feel scratchy or anything.

Overall: Very nice colour, nice texture, awesome price, very good value, lots of product, 8/10.

Thank you for reading! :)

Wednesday 9 February 2011

Question: How often do you change your nails/nail colour?

I was wondering this because a lot of beauty gurus/bloggers seem to change their nails everyday, I don't have time to do that but I try to change them at least once a week and if we're lucky twice!

Please leave your comments below :)

Friday 4 February 2011

Review: Bourjois Khol and Contour Eyeliner Pencils


I love these eyeliners from Bourjois so much...possibly more in a slightly different category to the Urban Decay 24/7 Glide on eye pencils. They sell for £4.99 at Boots or Superdrug. These are fantastic eyeliners, very gentle on the eyes, waterline, tightline, lower lashline, upper lashline, you name it, and also very appropriate for creating smokey eyes. They can be smudged or kept as deep colours alone. The one in shade the shade noir I have had for donkey's years - literally, I think that as long as eye pencils are kept clean and sharpened regularly they can be used for however long, hence why mine has been around forever. It was one of my first ever items of makeup that my aunt kindly purchased for me.

The second shade I have is bleu virtuose which is also a very pretty shade, works best on the upper lash line though where it is clearly visible as a blue-ish colour but on the waterline it becomes difficult to distinguish between the two.

The only issue I have with these liners is that because of their ability to smudge out, they can slightly begin to smudge on the eyes after about 4-5 hours on me, and they don't last for very long on the waterline either, probably 2 hours only. I remember sleeping with them on accidentally one night and by morning it was completely gone!

I'm not really one for constant reapplication of makeup especially when out because to be frank, I just can't be bothered - unless I begin to look like a monster of course, hence why Bobbi Brown's Long-Wear line truly appealed to me.

But we digress...back to the liners, they're fantastic and I would definitely recommend them for their price and quality, best for smokey eyes, a 7/10.

Thank you for reading :)

E.l.f Cosmetics Haul!

Hi!

This is a long due post and I'm very excited to do it as a lot of these products I have fallen in love with completely. Reviews will most definitely follow soon.

All items came to a total of £30 which was the amount needed for free delivery! :)

These were £1.50 each, from left to right the shades are: Pink lemonade, Bark and Maple Sugar


E.l.f's infamous HD Powder! :) Finally I got hold of it after it being out of stock for so long, it was £6.


I got a mineral lipstick in Cheerful Cherry for £3.50 and their mineral eyeshadow primer for £3


This tinted moisturizer only cost £1.50! :D I chose the shade honey which appears a lot darker in the picture unfortunately but I haven't experimented yet so will let you know more in the upcoming review :)


A studio complexion brush to go with the HD powder...£3.50



My favourite blush of the moment...only £3.50! In mellow mauve


Another miracle product for only £1.50, their liquid eyeliner which I'm pretty sure is exactly the same as any high-end brands'...


Lipstick for £1.50 each in the shades Gypsy and Voodoo

That's all from E.L.F Cosmetics that I ordered, there's still quite a few items I have yet to play around with but II will be reviewing them all very soon :)

Thank you for reading!

Wednesday 2 February 2011

Any Questions or Requests? - February 2011

This is February's Questions/Requests, please leave your thoughts in the comments below! :)

Every month I post a similar post asking if you have any specific questions or requests with regards to the blog that I may be able to help with. Please leave your comments below and thank you so much for visiting BBA!

The Makeup Ban... :/

Yes you read correctly...I have banned myself from all makeup, beauty, skincare, bodycare and haircare products.

Why? Because I have a ridiculous amount of everything already!

I've decided to save up for the better things in life and I shall permit myself to purchase makeup when there is a limited edition item that I've fallen in love with or is of very high value for money.

I also intend on reviewing every single item in my collection before I'm allowed to buy new things and using things up before I can buy new things. For every 3 drugstore items I finish I'll buy 1 item. However I'm not going to apply this to high-end products because I want to maintain a collection, I don't want to realise I have no makeup left at all! :/ That would be a nightmare...drugstore is also less expensive so I think this would be best to save money and feed the addiction at the same time if necessary.

I'll keep you updated on how it's going. At the moment I haven't finished any products but for every 3 small/drugstore ones I do finish I will post and tell you what I've bought in replacement! :)

This ban has started from 1st February 2011 and I hope to keep it up until 1st August 2011, for 6 months and then I'll review it. For high-end products I've decided I'll buy one when I finish 3 drugstore ones, so same thing :)

I have more than enough makeup/skincare/haircare/beauty to last me until then. Maybe not enough shampoo but I'll allow myself to buy that when needed!

Thank you for reading and please comment below if you have a similar addiction you need to control!

January 2011 Favourites :)

My top 5 products that I've used over and over in the month of January...



1. E.l.f Studio blush in "Mellow mauve" - such a high quality, pigmented powder blush for the tiny price of £3.50

2. 17 Eyes Trio in "Metallic toffee" - the easiest, quick and simple neutral eye

3. No7 Stay Perfect Nail Polish in "Totally Teal" - a very pretty autumn/winter shade

4. Bourjois Khol and Contour Eyeliner in "01 Noir Expert" - I love this eyeliner so much! I'll be writing a review on this very soon and comparing to all black eyeliners I have tried, but it is truly worth it!

5. Blistex Lip Massage Lip Balm - I love the smell/taste of this balm and the slanted applicator, overall thumbs up :)

Tuesday 1 February 2011

Review: Boots Amazon Forest "Passion Flower and Cupuacu" Hand and Nail Cream



I bought this as part of a set a few Christmases ago and I still have it because I can't find it anywhere...this saddened me a lot so I set out to research on the internet to find it, and I did! ...in the US...!

Anyway back to the review and links at the end. This is an amazingly soft and luxurious handcream although very light in texture. It smells of passion fruit, a smell I happen to love :) a very small amount is needed or you're wasting the product as the excess amount will take a lot of time to soak in and your hands won't need it. I like the packaging as it's very simple and compact, so you can pop it into your handbag/purse and off you go.

I'm not sure why Boots haven't got this in the UK anymore, the whole Amazon Forest range has disappeared but there is a similar range although not as amazing in my opinion...


It's a much larger and different bottle but hopefully will still be awesome! It's $9.99 at Target.

This is my favourite handcream ever that I have ever tried in my entire life! :) I give it 10/10.

Thank you for reading :)