Sunday 26 January 2014

Lush | Snow Fairy


Each Christmas lush re-releases their Christmas 'Snow Fairy' range. Every year there is a huge hype around these products and they are sure not to disappoint. I know that I'm a little late but one of my favourites out of this collection is obviously the shower gel. I treated my self to the 250ml bottle which was £6.25 I think and its the most beautiful smelling thing ever. It smells so sweet and yummy. Lush claim that it is supposed to smell exactly like pear drops and candy floss and it does exactly. It is pink in colour and has a touch of blue shimmer which is super pretty.


 The magic wand is a reusable bubble bar and its so amazing. I personally tend to get about 5-8 uses out of them and they smell divine. The smell of these bubble bars is identical to the Snow Fairy shower gel. The idea with these wands it that you 'swish' them around in your bath while running the water to create bubbles. I've found that its much easier to hold the wand under the tap and it creates a lot more bubbles.


With this bubble bar I've found that it is significantly easier to control how many bubbles you have in your bath and that is so helpful. It turns your bath a gorgeous pink colour and gives you lots of bubbles that smell sweet. If I could smell like snow fairy every day I would but the only think I would change about this product would for it to be on sale all year round.


 Oh lush, how you leave us wanting more.
Do you have a favourite Lush scent?
Antonia x







Sunday 19 January 2014

Revlon | Colour Burst Lip Butters


I'm going a little crazy for the Revlon Colour Burst Lip Butters at the moment. I'm constantly look for new lipsticks, they are my absolute weakness, especially when they have super cute names like 'Tutti Fruiti' (Sad, I know.) I'd watched reviews on these and read all about them before I went out and bought some. There are 20 shades now to choose from and they come in a huge variety of shades.


I know that everyone says this but they are the perfect mixture between a lip balm and a lip stick. Believe it or not, the have a gorgeous buttery feel. They are a formula specially made for hydration, they contain mango, shea and coconut butter for making the lips feel smooth and diminishes the feeling of dryness. They are gel based so they easily glide on your lips. I have found that they are perfect to wear during the winter time when your lips are needed a little help as they care for you and also they do not show up the cracks in your lips which would be emphasised by any other lip product. They last on your lips for a good while unlike a lot of lip products. I love to wear mine either really sheer and they look super pretty or if I am going somewhere and want a bolder glossier look I just add more and they don't look heavy.


(From left to right: Sorbet, Candy Apple,Tutti Fruiti, Sweet Tart)


I'm probably going to collect all 20 of these over time and I cannot wait to see which colours they bring out next! I would 100% recommend these to anyone, any age as they come in colours to suit anyone and there's a way that these will work for any age! They are such a reasonable price of £7.99 but at the moment they are on offer for £5.00 each in Superdrug!
Recommend me one of your lip loves?
Antonia x

DIY | Ombre hair


I was Probably a little late to hop on the 'Ombre' train but finally in September last year I did it and it made so much of a difference about how I felt about my hair. I was getting a little bored of my natural colour and I just wanted a change but I guess I was a little too scared to go all out and dye my whole head. Some people do their ombre in bold block colours and some people just do the tips and go  for the dip dyed look.
I got the L'Oreal preference Wild ombre kit. I bought it in the shade number 1 for light brown to dark brown hair. It was only something silly like £6.99 yet its unbelievably simple to use! Each kit comes with absolutely everything you are going to need. They contain: one tube of lightening cream, one bottle of developer cream, one packet of lightening powder, one tube of conditioning shampoo treatment, a brush and one pair of gloves ('high five' to L'Oreal for realising women don't have stupidly huge hands and finally making gloves a realistic size)
How I went about it?:
I recruited my mum as a helping hand on this one and I would just like to say this is not going to be exactly perfect or even what is recommended its only what we did.
Firstly I brushed all my tangles out of my hair with my tangle teaser ( This was the best hair brush ever to enter my life if there is such a thing, go check them out here!) and then parted my hair into two sections. Then we squirted the mixture onto the brush evenly and worked it up my hair starting at the bottom for a softer more graduated effect until it reached just below my chin. We did the whole of my hair and then left it for 25 minutes which the box suggests but I didn't seem light enough so we left it for another ten minutes then washed it off and I couldn't be happier. The dye hasn't seemed to have dried out my hair and the shampoo is really luxurious.
Have any of you been Ombre before?
Antonia x

Monday 13 January 2014

Lush | So White - Bath ballistic:


This is the most beautiful smelling bath ballistic out of the Christmas range. However, its not so Christmassy. The scent is fresh and smells strongly of apple, it isn't heavy just rather uplifting. I'd say that it is perfect for relaxing. Previously I have over looked this bath ballistic because of its simplicity. It is a plain white sphere and me being me I would tend to go for something that looked a little more dramatic like Golden Wonder. I cannot even explain my love for the smell of this once it has entered the water, it changed my view (If any of you know the smell of DKNY Be delicious, that's totally what it reminds me of)! if you can, definitely give this one a whirl.




I popped the it into my bath, I must admit not really expecting much due to the fact that it plain. This bath bomb was so much faster at fizzing than any other bath ballistic I have ever used before. The white outer layer quickly fizzed off. Until it revealed a multi-coloured pink core. I must say this shocked me. It was filled with many beautiful shades of pink which quickly dispersed into my bath.



So white quickly finished leaving my whole bathroom filled with a juicy fragrance. This is my favourite bath bomb for relaxing. The only disappointment was the colour, it turned a very weak shade of pink. For a price of £3.25 I would buy this again but only because the smell is so luxurious. This bath bombs smell is probably on par with another one of my favourites: Secret Santa (which I also reviewed here!). Such a shame its only limited stock for Christmas time but hey ho.

Saturday 11 January 2014

Naked 3 | First impressions


Hello Guys! Yesterday I finally got my Naked 3 palette  by Urban Decay and I couldn't be more excited. It is the most beautiful thing and I am so pleased.  I cant wait to experiment with the brand new 'rose-hued' neutrals. They are a total mix of shimmery metallic shades, and smooth mattes. The colours range from light pinks to matte blacks with red sparkles.

How beautiful? 

This naked palette has a beautiful, double sided brush with one end for your crease and one end for your shadow. One of my favourite things out of this whole palette is the packaging. It comes in an almost tin-like box in rose gold kind of shade.



As well as the brush, it comes with a selection of the primer potions: Original, Eden, Sin and Anti-aging. Each of the little pods apparently contains a weeks worth of primer that's supposed to give you 24hrs of staying power. As I'm new to the primer potions, I'll be hopefully getting back to here with a review on them and telling you my favourite. Until then, Original is an invisible potion for long lasting performance. Eden is a matte formula that prepares your lids for a long day. Sin is a shimmery base  perfect for nights out. Finally, Anti-aging is well anti-aging, it defies the appearance of wrinkles and fine lines.


This palette is £37.00 and can be bought anywhere like Debenhams and House of Frazer. I would 100% recommend this because it can be worn for any occasion and at any point in the day. I did some swatches for this but they aren't very clear but hey ho, I'll post them anyway. When using these shadows they're super bendable and easily used to great a simple or even a dramatic eye look. I will always be honest about the negatives of a product and these shadows do have a little fallout. This can easily be fixed with either a cotton pad or a little foundation and concealer.


Do you own any of the naked palletes? Which is your favourite?
Thanks for reading,
Antonia x







Monday 6 January 2014

2014 New Years resolutions

Since now where nearly a week into 2014 I thought that I should share with you all my pretty simple new years resolutions:
  • Be happy
  • Enjoy life more
  • learn something new
  • Stop buying lip balms
Be happy:
By this I don't mean 'smile at everyone' which of course I do try do anyway or pretend to be happy when i'm not (I mean everyone allowed to have bad days right?). By this I mean not letting silly little things bother me. 2014 will be my last ever year in school I hope it will be the most enjoyable and happiest yet.

Enjoy life more:
This year I want to make the most out of every single opportunity and take part in everything despite it being out of my comfort zone. Alongside my friends I want to make the best memories and have the most amazing times.

Learn something new:
I'm not too sure yet on what I would like to learn but i'm pretty sure it will come to me. There's many new things that id love to try out, but I guess you never know when an opportunity is right around the corner. Organization skills being top of the list.

Stop buying lip balms:
In 2013 I gained a rather huge obsession with buying lip balms. I mean if I bought one out of a collection I certainly had to have them all. With them serving a very good purpose, I guess they call cannot serve the same purpose at once.

Sunday 5 January 2014

2013 Beauty Favourites


So now its 2014 and last year I had a lot of favourite things that where staple products in my beauty regime. Since we have officially entered 2014 now, its about time I showed you what I really enjoyed over the whole of last year...

Maybelline Colour Tattoo 24hr (Gel cream shadow)

These little beauties where the easiest eye shadows to use that I have ever came across. Being such a versatile product they can be easily worn as a day-to-day look or transformed into a statement at night time. The colours I have being enjoying are 'Eternal Gold' and 'On and on bronze'. Both of which have a beautiful shimmery metallic finish. All of the colours are very strongly pigmented and super easy to blend. They claim to last 24 hours, this im not too sure on as I never keep my makeup on for sure a lengthy period. I would definitely recommend these to anyone! They are a cheap 'drug store alternative to Mac's paint pots at only £4.99 in places like Boots and Superdrug (often on 3 for the price of  2).  



Mac Studio Sculpt foundation


This is the most beautiful foundation. Not only do they do a shade that perfectly matches my skin tone (which I am yet to find in any other brand) it stays on without a single flaw all day. This foundation is supposed to be a medium to high coverage and a satin finish. I have found that hardly any is needed for a lovely coverage that doesn't look in the slightest 'cakey'. It leaves you looking luminous and glowy and not shiny. The tube is a little bigger than the usual size of 30ml at 40ml. However, with it being a mac product it does come at a pricey cost with it being £25.00.



Maybelline Baby Lips

These are the cutest lip balms in the cutest packaging. I had heard a lot about these before I picked some up my self and i'm ever so glad that I did. They always leave my lips soft and moisturised. Once I picked up one I had to have them all and my collection just kept on growing. At only £2.99 in places like Boots they are totally worth buying. They are great to just have handy. The tinted ones are my favourites (The one in the purple packaging, the pink and the orange) all of which a lovely subtle colours. 




Hoola- Benefit bronzer

This is another easy favourite of mine, with bronzer being an essential item when it comes to makeup this is my all time favourite bronzer with its inability to go that dreaded orange colour. Hoola is not at all glittery and perfect for sweeping underneath the cheek bones and on top of the forehead or any where you would like to look tanned I guess. It is really blend-able and perfect all year round. It is slightly more expensive than an average bronzer at £23.50 but lasts ages!


Mac Mineralize Skinfinish- soft and gentle


My favourite high lighter. This just is pure luxury, sweep on anywhere you would like to highlight basically, cheeks, brows, nose chin? the velvet soft texture adds a beautiful shimmery polish to anywhere necessary. However its little pricey at £22.00 yet its worth every single penny.


L'Oreal Super Liner Black Buster

This year this is the only eye liner I have actually loved. It has a sponge tip for a really quick and simple application. This liquid liner gives you any look you would like to go for whether that be thin and simple or bold and dramatic. I've found with this eyeliner that creating 'flicks' or wings is much more simple (just me?) It quickly dries giving the product no time to smudge. The delicate tip leaves it easy for you to get close to your last line to create that iconic, classy eye liner look.

What have been your favourite products this year?
Antonia x

Saturday 4 January 2014

Secret Santa- Bath Ballistic
 
Oh Lush how you never fail to amaze me. Recently I bought the 'Secret Santa' bath ballistic. This is one huge and ever so heavy bath treat! This lovely little creation, according to Lush was inspired by the original, first ever shop. When this first came out in Lush I was a little taken back by the price of £5.75 but on boxing day it had halved in price and I found it much more reasonable. I had being looking forwards to this bath bomb for a long time.

Lets start with the appearance of the beautiful ballistic. It is in the form of the cutest little Santa's grotto with a white roof, orange walls and a pink candy cane and window. Lush state that inside there is another bath bomb, a mini red rather Christmas. However, me being me. I did not have the patience to try and crack it open and was apprehensive to ruin the gorgeous aesthetics.

I threw the bath bomb in whole and it quickly started to fizz, filling my bath with the most beautiful shade of orange with subtle flecks of glitter and shimmer. Continuing to until it reached the centre and the it reached the core. With it being the Father Christmas bath ballistic inside I expected it to be a bright red colour yet it was a fuchsia pink.

(apologies for the blurry photo) 
The bath smelt lovely of fragrances like lime and ylang ylang which is supposed to be uplifting and 'sure to put you in a good mood' I wasn't too sure about this. However, it was a very divine smell. This was the first bath ballistic that I have ever used that's scent has stayed on my skin for longer than a couple of hours. As a bonus, it also left my bathroom smelling super fresh and citrusy.
 


Thursday 2 January 2014

lush boxing day sales

Hey guys, over the festive period this year I seemed to have went a little lush crazy. When I discovered that on boxing day the Christmas stock would discounted to 50% off each item I for sure had to go. I seemed to have bought more than enough to take me into the new year. A few of the things I bought where:
  • The Christmas Penguin-Bubble Bar (Super adorable and affordable at only £2.95)
  • Golden Wonder- Bath Ballistic (Turns your bath a gorgeous blue/green colour with tiny gold stars)
  • Luxury lush Pud- Bath Ballistic (Makes your bath go the colour identical to Ribena and smells like lavender)
  • Snow Fairy- Shower gel (Smelling really sweet of pear drops and candy floss)
  • Candy Mountain- Bubble Bar (Gives you 'mountains' of sweet bubbles that can be used for two or more baths)
And many more beautiful things.

Star Light, Star Bright

It would be fair to say out of the whole Christmas collection that I have used and enjoyed so far would be 'Star Light, Star Bright' a beauty of a bath melt with a whole load of goodness inside. Having eczema, I tend to find that the bath melt's qualities are far better for easing my skin. The scent of the Star Light, Star bright bath melt is a light citrus sent, not over powering in the slightest (It reminded me of the smell of Lemon Cheesecake)

When I popped it in my bath, the extremely shimmery outer layer quickly dispersed into the water and it began to melt away. It quickly became a clear shimmery pool of light until it reached the centre. At this point an unexpected blue core was revealed and my bath turned a magical colour of blue with a little shimmer. However, I did notice that it took a lot longer to melt that things such as 'You've been mango'd' (Anyone else?)

After I had got out of the bath I could feel the difference in my skin and there was definitely no need for moisturiser. The bath melt contains many things that do wonders for your skin like Cocoa Butter and Organic Shea Butter, both naturally smoothing on the skin.


Overall this was a beautiful product that I would 100% buy again at the price of £3.00.  However, the only thing that put me off a little was the 'scummy' layer it left in my bath but what's a little bit of a mess to clean up at the end if you get such a gorgeous bath.