Thursday, 24 October 2013

Dyeing my hair: Red Ombré style.

I'm the first to admit I get bored with my hair very very easily, so when I saw this in Boots I had to have it and try it out. I haven't dyed my hair in a while so its in need of a touch of va va voom, and my actual hair is almost bombproof so I figured why not try to follow to dip dyeing trend; only with a twist. The fact that this is a red ombré intrigues me, as I'd only ever seen the sort of bleachy blonde ones (tempted to try that next time).

So in this kit (the L'oréal Paris Colour Ombrés Préference) you get gloves, obviously, you don't want to go dyeing your hands a nice shade of red! Then obviously the colour, in a 'créme form', the colour developer which just looks like a white conditioner and then once-a-week high shine conditioner which apparently gives you 6 treatments but with the amount of conditioner I use on my hair I doubt it will last that long- it smells pretty good though! You also get a little interesting looking brush which you used to comb in the dye where you want it.

I got my Mam to help me with this one, as I think I'd mess up the back doing it alone, as it seems like an easy thing to get wrong. So we applied the dye to my hair by sectioning it (into 4 sections, I have hella thick hair) and then left it to develop for around 35 minutes, as it says in the instructions. It smelt horrible, as usual but didn't sting or anything although did feel very very warm. I then rinsed it out, applied the conditioner which actually smelt pretty nice then got rid of that and blow dried it (I was too impatient to wait for it to naturally dry). I have to say I LOVE IT, I think it's just the right amount of red and it looks very subtle but when it catches the light it looks gorgeous; it isn't red as such its more of a burgundy colour but it's so pretty all the same! 

My hair doesn't feel too frazzled and dry, it actually feels quite soft and is very shine; overall I'm rating my ombré experience as a 9 out of 10 (it lost a point for smelling like vinegar). 

Here's a link to their website with some tips on how to apply:http://www.loreal-paris.co.uk/_en/_gb/minisites/dip_dye_hair_wild_ombres/product-info.aspx  Unfortunately I can't find the red version online anywhere, so it must be a recent thing but I'm sure if you're really interested you can pop into your local Boots to seek one out! 

Thanks for reading!

Beth :) 


Friday, 18 October 2013

The Wonderful World of Soap & Glory

Let's have a bit of a history lesson shall we? Soap&Glory started in 2006, and has been pleasing our skin and our noses ever since. When I was researching for this post I found this bio of the company, which I thought said it better than I ever could! It makes for a very interesting read, so check it out if you fancy a bit of background info: http://www.soapandglory.com/blog/about-us/ 

This post is going to be about the things I adore and the things I'm not a huge lover of from Soap&Glory. This is in no particular order, but if you're looking for a specific thing feel free to scan through. 

Lets start with the Righteous Butter (£10.50 gasp), this body moisturiser is so thick and creamy and smells like you could eat it (obviously don't because that would be bad...) and is aimed at people with very dry skin, so my skin drinks it up like that's what it was meant to drink up all it's life. My skin gets so dry especially around September-March time so that's when I love to use this; but I do like to break it out on a pamper night after a bath and it makes my legs silky soft after shaving. I would recommend using it at night as it might be a little heavy for daytime wear. As you can see from the picture I've not got a massive amount left which isn't surprising, but I'm pleased with how this has lasted me since the end of June! Another body lotion/moisturiser/skin quencher is The Daily Smooth Ultra Rich Body Lotion (£10...another gasp), again I love the smell which is apparently 'bergamot, blackcurrant, magnolia, freesia, vanilla and musk' and dayum do those scents go together well. My skin always feels nice and smooth without this being too heavy, so I'll usually slap this on in the morning to keep me smelling good and my skin feeling good all day, the scent does cling to skin, clothes whatever it can latch on to really so if you're not one for heavily scented body lotions I don't think this ones for you but, if you're like me and you like your scents to be BAM in your face and get lovely wafts of it all day I would highly recommend this. I think hand cream falls into the moisturising category, and this hand cream certainly lives up to the bold claims on the packaging, Hand Food (£5 or £2.50 for the handbag size) smells exactly like the Righteous Butter, so obviously I love the scent and it does wonders for my hands. Recently I had a huge eczema flare, and my hands were all flaky and dry and just generally disgusting (too much info? maybe..) and I swear down this was the cream that saved them. It claims to be 'the most astonishing hand cream ever?' and I have to say I agree. The best thing about this is that it isn't greasy, and sinks in really fast so you're not sitting there with sticky wet hands (lets not go there) for ages waiting for it to do its thing. 

Next up people: its the Flake Away Body Scrub (£7.50). This isn't my favourite of their scrubs, I am truly committed to my relationship with The Breakfast Scrub (£8) (it smells like maple syrup what can I say?) but I do like this one on the side occasionally. It can be quite abrasive which I'm not a huge fan of as my skin is quite fussy as to what it allows me to use on it, but the smell is nice and it leaves a sort of residue that keeps my legs in particular (this is becoming a very leggy post) soft as a baby's bum. I have found however that when my eczema flares up this is NOT a good thing to use anywhere near my body, it hurts deep. I don't think I'll be buying this again when it runs out, but only because The Breakfast Scrub holds a special place in my heart. Sticking with scrubs, Pulp Friction (£8). Now this is definitely one of the products from Soap&Glory I'm going to have to give a thumbs down purely because I hate the smell so. much. It smells like an aftershave that's gone off, don't get me wrong it scrubs my skin just fine but I can't get past the smell! I know of people who love it though so it may just be a personal preference thing but ugh. This is one I will not be using again when I've finally finished it, no sir. 

Sticking to the bodily cleansing theme; Clean on Me (£6) is a clarifying shower gel, it gets my body clean, makes me smell good and leaves a little bit of moisture. I liked it while I had it, but this is a tad expensive for daily use when there are shower gels I like better for four or five pounds cheaper. Not much else to say on this one!

I've also got the Mist You Madly Body Spray (£3.50 for 100ml or £6 for 250ml) which I also love as it smells like the Daily Smooth, and there really isn't all that much else to say on this...it makes me smell lovely. 



Now I've got two make up related things in my collection at the minute, the Cheekmate Cheek and Lip stain (£8) and the A Great Kisser Lip Balm (£5). The stain I've only really used on my cheeks as I got it in spring and I feel its more of an autumn/winter colour to be used as a cheek colour but it has really great lasting power on the lips, the one thing I would say is that it is quite drying, but the colour is gorgeous. The great kisser lip balm is pretty much the opposite colour wise, its pretty much clear so just adds a subtle sheen to the lips and its very moisturising, the flavour I have is 'Juicy Peach' but I'm also after 'Vanilla Bean' for my collection. I've also had the Smoulder Kohl eyeliner (£5) which I LOVED. 

Well that's it! I've stuck to body and make up things in this post, but I'm thinking of doing a similar one on the skincare products for the face that I've trialled and what my verdict is on those.

Thanks for reading this incredibly long post! 

Beth:) 

(P.S. all of these products can be found on the Boots website.) 

Thursday, 17 October 2013

My Top 5 Under £10: Foundations

I'm making this a little series! Top 5 Under £10, thinking of doing lips, eyes, mascara and whatever else I can think of that may be useful for the make up lover on a tight budget. First up though; Foundations. 

Drugstore foundations and I have a love/hate relationship. Biiig time. I am very very pale so finding a cheapish foundation that doesn't make me look like I had an affair with a wotsit is quite the challenge. A couple of these foundations could have done with being a shade or two lighter (Maybelline just saying.) as I most likely bought them in a spur of the moment 'its new I have money I must own it' mood. Let's get started shall we? 

5: The Collection Cover&Go Foundation and Concealer. So to kick things off here's my least favourite of the bunch, this by no means does not mean I don't like it because I actually find it a very pleasant foundation; I just prefer others more.The idea of it I LOVE, I mean who doesn't love a 2 in 1 product? Don't lie I know you do; two products for the price of one, who can say no? Well I clearly didn't say no, and I have to say the texture of this can be a little thick and cakey...the concealer is the same and the concealer shade doesn't match the foundation as its quite orangey, thus I haven't really used it. Maybe I should have gone for shade 1 instead of shade two? Who knows. The coverage of this is medium but buildable, it goes on a bit thick to blend properly but its workable for a bad skin day with lots of redness, I've been known to use it very heavily on my cheeks where I have a lot of bad redness and then just blend it out to the rest of my face. Not a bad choice! The shade I have is shade 2 'Light'  http://www.boots.com/en/Collection-Cover-Go-Foundation-Concealer-Duo_1306633/

4:  Welcome to this list the Maybelline Fit Me foundation. So this is one for very very good skin days, and days where I'm just after that bit of colour (bit too much in this case) to my face. The texture is nice, light and gives a dewy finish. I'm not going to lie the colour in this is
just too dark, I have to mix it with either a lighter foundation or a moisturiser to get it to sort of match (ironic as its named Fit Me). But when I have been brave enough to wear it on its own I do really like the finish it gives! The shade I have of this is 120 'Classic Ivory'.This is a good shade for us paleos when you've got a tan. http://www.boots.com/en/Maybelline-Fit-Me-Foundation_1279214/

3: So number three is my 'in the middle don't completely love but don't feel meh about' foundation. It's the Rimmel Stay Matte, this ones definitely a light light liight coverage on me and looks very natural and like real skin so it's great for my good skin days where the redness isn't raising its ugly head (rare) and I've got no spots. The consistency is nice and light feeling and airy (if that makes sense) so this is a great one for people who are don't like that heavy I am definitely wearing make up feel. I also like how it says it has cotton, chamomile and cucumber in. Good stuff. The shade I have in this is 100 'Ivory' http://www.boots.com/en/Rimmel-Stay-Matte-Foundation_1015582/

2: Drumroll please? Number two on my list is the Maybelline Dream Matte Mousse, this swatched is coming up pretty dark on my vampire hands but is actually an almost perfect match for my skintone; which is what earns it it's second place. I also really love the texture, it glides on like a dream...oh so smooth. Coverage wise I'd say this was medium and not really all that buildable as it starts to feel a little weird and look cakey. Stays on for a good few hours, and stays on even better when used with the matching powder! The shade I have in this is 004 'Light Porcelain'  http://www.boots.com/en/Maybelline-Dream-Matte-Mousse-Foundation_16064/


1: Last but NOT least: number one in this category has got to be the Collection 2000 Lasting Perfection foundation, hands down this is my favourite out of the bunch. It looks very flawless on, and I'd say this had medium/heavy coverage as its extremely buildable, the colour matches me pretty well although some days it can make me look a bit like I've gone OTT with the bronzer. It lives up to its name; the lasting power is great and even in summer when I get quite oily in places it stuck around all day without needing me to touch up concealer or anything. The consistency is quite light, but one thing I will say is this stuff dries very very fast so isn't the easiest to blend. The shade I have in this is No.2 'Ivory' http://www.boots.com/en/Collection-2000-Lasting-Perfection-Foundation_984439/

And there you go! My top 5 under 10 foundations. Keep reading for the next instalment of the top 5 mini series. :) 

Beth:)