Wednesday, 31 August 2011

O.P.I Uh-Oh Roll Down The Window

I'm so excited to share this NOTD with you lovelies because I've found my autumn colour for sure. O.P.I have released a new collection called Touring America Collection.
The collection consists of 12 shades in a variety of colours inspired by Americana and cities with rich cultural heritage. You can pick from vibrant corals to olive greens, when I saw the collection there where a few shades which jumped out at me and one of them was Uh-oh Roll Down The Window.

Uh-oh Roll Down The Window is such a beautiful sludgy green olive, I adore this polish and intend on re-painting this which does not happen often. I don't have any shade like this and just love the shade, this certainly reminds me of autumn and wrapping up warm.



I found the formula perfect and 2 coats was just right to give the true colour of the polish, as you know I love my creme finishes!


This stunning polish retails at £10.50/15ml, you can view the collection at over at www.lenawhite.co.uk the other shade which I think is stunning and predict a quick seller is Road House Blues, a beautiful inky blue navy shade perfect for the change of seasons.

Road House Blues / Suzi Takes The Wheel / I Eat Mainely Lobster

 

What will be your 'Autumn' shade this A/W?
Have you seen the new collection?

Monday, 29 August 2011

Elemis Cellular Recovery Capusles

I've been trying something new recently which has been a real treat for my skin, Elemis Cellular Skin Bliss Capsules. These have been such a pleasure to use and still are I've been using these on and off for roughly a month now and still have half the capsules left.


The capsules come in this big jar/pot which has a divide inside, there are capsules to use in the morning and capsules to use in the evening. The pink capsules are for the day and smell of rose which I LOVE and the green capsules are for the evening which smell of lavender. You can use these every day and night either alone or with your daily/night moisturiser depending on your skin type.
The capsules are amazing, you simply twist the top part off and then you squeeze the special oil straight out onto your face or into your palm then warm up the oil and massage into your face. I've been using these and then applying my moisturier over the top but to be honest they are so hydrating, so if you have normal/combination skin these will probably be enough for your skin. I first used these religiously to begin with but recently had a break out which to be honest I was expecting as these have been new to my routine and plus they do say they rid your skin of toxins so I was expecting my skin to have a blemish or two. Since having these blemishes I've eased off and used them every other day to ensure the rest of my face is still benefiting from the ingredients. I have normal-dry skin and was using my moisturiser over the top of these so have now realised that I can use these in place of my moisturisers if I want.

 

Apart from the couple blemishes I had my skin is looking and feeling better, I have frown lines on my forehead which I hate and keep trying to stop frowning but can't ha ha! I know you guys may not see them in my photos or videos but they're there all right! The anti-oxidant power helps to improve the signs of ageing and hopefully my forehead frown lines. I've always felt my skin is slightly dehydrated and with the help of these capsules my skin feels like it's had the real nourishment it's needed. I know I've been using Beauty Flash Balm but these capusles are more of a proper treatment for your skin rather than a quick pick me up if that makes sense? You can also just use these capsules on certain areas of your face.


These capusles are little pricey and cost £59.30 for 60 capsules so that's 30 pink and 30 green. Timtetospa currently have a great offer, when you spend over £50 you can pick a FREE Sp@ Home Shower Gel.

These are well worth the pennies though and sometimes ladies we need to treat our skin, we will be thankful when we are older but ladies fret not I have found you a FAB offer which I think you should ALL jump at the chance of getting.
I had a look on QVC website and they have this amazing offer costing just £20.91 which has 3 products one of which is a 7day supply of the Skin Bliss Capsules as well as 2 other best selling products. Check out the link and also the video Demonstration of the set.


Have you tried Elemis Skin Bliss Capsules?
Are you going to take advantage of this great offer?



*Press Sample*

Sunday, 28 August 2011

Clarins Beauty Flash Balm

My skin has gone a little AWOL recently, I have put this down to many factors such as hormones, poor diet, change of skincare and also lack of sleep. My skin type is normal-dry, I hardly ever have blemishes and if I do they are normally only hormonal and very small. Recently I've been going to bed late then getting up early to look after my 2 young children, I don't drink enough water and have recently changed my skin care routine so my skin has been looking rather dull and rubbish to be honest. Thanks to Clarins best seller Beauty Flash Balm by skin has been looking better and my makeup has been looking better. I'm a great believer in good skincare and finding what works best for you, you may have great makeup but it wont look great if your skin is isn't. I can't believe I've never tried this product before because it certainly appeals to me, this would be great for anyone to use.


The benefits about this product is marvelous and think everyone should have one of these ready to give your skin a flash of youth! I know being a busy mummy I am on the go constantly and having this has really helped me enjoy wearing makeup again. Some mornings I wake up and don't get time to spend as much as I would like applying my makeup but have got into a good routine now. I apply a thin layer of this and then apply my face makeup straight away.  I've also tried this as a mask and enjoyed the results it gave, but have been using it more as a prep.


Beauty Flash balm is suitable for all skin types and is also great if you want your makeup to last longer or if you're planning a special evening out this would be great to use.

Active ingredients 

* Witch hazel and Olive tree extracts : tightens and promotes radiance.
* Algae extract : revitalises.
* Bisabolol : soothes and softens.
* Rice Starch : purifies the epidermis

I really recommend you pop along to your nearest Clarins counter next time your hitting the shops and have a look at this little beauty! You could always ask for a little sample if you wanted to try it first. You get a 50ml tube which retails at £27.50 and will last a while because you only need a thin layer over the skin.

Have you tried Beauty Flash Balm?



Saturday, 27 August 2011

Red Nails Are Hot For This Autumn/Winter

Red nails have always been a classic fool proof shade which you can always rely on!Well Red is due to be the new black for this Autumn/Winter with the likes of Lauren Conrad, Lady Gaga and Khloe Khardashian are all big fans of red talons.
So with Autumn just around the corner I thought I would share today's NOTD I'm wearing a beautiful classic red from Ciate called Boudoir. 


The bottle is so chic and looks lovely on my unit with all my makeup and skincare, these bottles are to pretty to be stored away. I couldn't believe how glossy my nails looked and didn't have to apply a top coat which was great! I tried to capture the glossy look the polish gave by taking a few photos so I hope it shows up. There's not many polishes which don't need a helping hand with a layer of top coat, I applied a base coat because when you remove the polish it should come away easy and not stain your nails.


 ~ Boudoir ~


You can purchase Ciate Paint Pots from www.ciate.co.uk 

I love the look of Gold Digga, Kitten Heels and Ladylike Luxe these shades remind me of Christmas! Ciate also have a range of Hand & Feet care, I spotted a Foot Oil which caught my eye. Coconut & Kukui Foot Oil sounds divine don't you think? I have terrible dry feet with cracked heels. I could do with pouring this all over mine ha ha! Has anyone tried this?

What is your favourite RED?
Hope you're all having a lovely weekend so far.

 


Friday, 26 August 2011

Enrapture Totem Styler

Following on from my video review of the Enrapture Totem Styler I wanted to do a blog post showing photos of the styler and the look I created. You can watch my video review here.


The packaging is very sleek and refreshing, less is more in my eyes and they've certainly not over done the packaging. The Totem Styler comes in this beautiful vibrant blue box which is very strong and can see this serving well.


I took some photos to show you the Totem Styler close up, I'm so pleased they've added the little stand which holds the styler up nicely. You also have a heat resistant pouch which doubles up as a storage pouch so 2 benefits, which is always good. The Totem Styler is used the same way as traditional tongs, but is so much more than just your average tongs.
You can use the styler as you would a curling wand by simply wrapping the hair around the barrel. The really cool thing about the Totem Styler is the 3 independent heating zones, these zones control they type of curl you want to achieve. On the main part of the styler you will see 3 separate dials with number options1/2/3, 1 being the coolest and 3 being the hottest.
There's a little flipper which holds your hair in place giving you a much tighter curl, I like the little flipper because it gives you control. 
Enrapture have included a booklet which shows you the different codes to use for creating different type curls.

 For this look I used the code 1-1-3 I like how the curls fall, very subtle and nice day time look.

For the second look I used 2-2-2 and love the big bouncy curls.


The Totem Styler retails at RRP £74.99 and you can purchase it from Argos and Boots.
You can visit the Enrapture web site for more code ideas and follow them on twitter and Facebook.

Have you tried the Totem Styler? Which code is do you use?


a england Nail Varnish

Since my nails have been growing I've been taking advantage of them and making sure they are always look in tip top condition. I've been trying some polishes by aengland which are so different, the whole brand and the concept of these polishes are intriguing. The polishes or should I say 'The Mythicals' are named after historical characters. I love the mix of magic and history, these polishes tell a story on your finger tips!
   
 ~ ISEULT ~
My fair lady
The legendary beautiful princess forever linked to Tristam after they mistakenly drank a love potion that left them eternally in love with each other in a powerful romance and tragedy.


Iseult is a beautiful opalescent creamy pink with a slight shimmer which is very subtle, I really enjoyed wearing this shade and think every princess should have one! This would be a beautiful shade for a bride to be!


~ GUINEVERE ~
The Queen
The most beautiful and desirable lady in Britan. Spouse of King Arthur and involved in a passionate affair with young Lancelot which is one of the most celebrated legendary love triangle.
 
Guinevere is my favourite, a stunning creamy mauve which looks very feminie and elegant on your finger tip.


~ ELAINE ~
 The lily maiden or the lady of shalott.
The mysterious romantic and tragic maid who dies of unrequited love for Lancelot and floats lifeless in a barge to Camelot with a lily in her hand.
   
Elaine is described as a smoky violet amethyst, for me she is a deep rich sultry purple which changes in the light.


The packaging is very regal and true to the brand which is very charming, the polishes retail at £9.00 each.

If you like the look of these then you'll love the other shades avaliable, you can see the collection at www.a-england.co.uk

Which shade is your favourite?
 

Thursday, 25 August 2011

Smooch Cosmetics

There's a new Cosmetic brand in town called Smooch Cosmetics, think girly and chic! I love the girly lace print packaging but also like the black rubber casing, very similar to a high end brand we all know *cough* Nars.


They have just launched and have a great offer on till September 16th where you get 50% off all products, so quick ladies take advantage while you can. You could also pick up a couple pressies for friends or family if you know anyone has a birthday coming up.
The blusher has pink Smooch writing and the eyeshadow duo has white smooch writing, I'm not to sure about the print on the lipstick. This may not be very ones cup of tea, I'm quite traditional and like very simple packaging.


Smooch Blusher in Sugar Rush £8.50 is a very natural daytime blush which can be used as a very subtle contour, the shimmer is hardly anything. I did struggle a little to swatch the blush and thought it wouldn't be very pigmented but all faith was restored when I used my blush brush and the product came off nice and easy. They have 2 main blusher shades and then some duo blushers which have a lighter shade suitable for highlighting I think. It would be nice to see more shades of the one shaded blushers.



This is Smooch Duo Eyeshadow in Dare to Bare £9.50, this is very pigmented and feels very soft when swatched, the colour on the left is a beautiful buttery gold shade and the other shade is a soft bronze brown shimmer. They are very shimmery and look great on the eyes especially the lighter shade used in the corners of the eyes and under the brow. They have a great selection of shades to pick from, the other duo which caught my eye was Seattle.


Smooch Lipstick in Sweet Tooth £7.50 is stunning! The swatches don't do the colour justice, however I do have slight reservations about the formula and texture of the lipstick. This is not what I expected, the lipstick is quite sheer and needs a little helping hand to build up the shade on the lips. Sadly my lipstick did actually break away from the base so it's a little wobbly when used but still usable. The colour is very pretty and a great spring/summer shade.


~ Swatches ~


Overall I found the quality to be really good and would try the products again, I think they've done really well and thought about launching and making an impact by offering 50% off so take advantage of this and order yourself a couple bits.

Will you be making an order?




*Press Sample*

Wednesday, 24 August 2011

Halo Hair Extensions

Following on from my video review of the gorgeous Halo Hair Extensions I wanted to show you how I dyed mine.If you haven't watched my video review then you can catch up here!
I will just quickly recap about the extensions for those of you who haven't yet watched the video. I have the Dark Brown 20" set which comprises of  8 pieces, each piece is known as a weft, each weft has super smart clips which attach to the root of your hair. Depending on the size of the weft depends on the number of clips. I've taken some photos to show you the wefts so you can size the width of them as well as the colour.
 ~ Number of wefts ~
2 x 3 clip wefts
2 x 2 clip wefts
4 x 1 clip wefts


 The clips need to be open in order to attach to the root of your hair, once in place you snap them shut.


If you follow my blog then you will know a little while ago I dyed my hair red, which at the time I loved. However after a few weeks I soon lusted after my brunette hair again and so took the plunge and dyed my hair a very dark brown hoping to mask as much red as possible. Well if you have or had red hair before then you'll know red hair can be a bugger to get rid of, but I do like my shade I think the red adds warmth. To look at my hair you would think its just a dark brown but believe me when I stand in the sunshine my hair looks really red. With the help of the lovely Mel I soon transformed my Halo locks to match my hair perfectly so ALL credit goes to Mel. You can follow Mel here and see her great post.


With the help of Mel's amazing post showing you how to dye your hair extensions I was ready to go. I must admit it's pretty scary at first if you've never dyed extensions but really worth it. I picked a Semi- permanent dye by L'Oreal in the colour Black Cherry. I got all my tools together and set up a station in my kitchen. I used an old towel which I use for dyeing my own hair, I got a strip of foil which I used to dye the extensions on and then a mixing pot which is in fact a yogurt pot. It's all about being green peeps!
Once I made up my dye I tested the colour on one of the single wefts, you're meant to leave the dye on for half the usual time when dyeing your natural hair. Casting Creme gloss says roughly 15-20mins depending on Grey. At first I left it on for 5 mins and then checked and then decided on 6 mins which was perfect timing. I used the timer on my cooker which helped lots, you can use your phone or a watch. I only dyed 2 wefts at a time and then rinsed them under the kitchen tap in cool water till it ran clear. Then carried on dyeing the rest of the wefts.


Once they had all taken and where clean of dye I then used all the conditioner which came with the dye and smothered the extensions in conditioner then combed this through. I left the conditioner on for a good while probably 15mins and then again rinsed them all thoroughly and set them out to dry. I found that laying them out on a towel and then brushing them on the towel separated the hair strands evenly so they dried much quicker. Once they where dry I sprayed them with heat protectant and was good to go. I can not stress enough that the quality of these did not change, they stayed just as beautiful as when I first opened them up!

 ~ LOVE LOVE LOVE THEM!! ~

   I must say I look quite young in these photos! 
You wouldn't think I turn 30 next year would you? * Be kind* ha ha
 I hope you found this post helpful and if you need any help please leave a comment and I will try and help as much as I can. Make sure you follow Halo Hair Extensions on Twitter and Facebook because they are often having great giveaways which are NOT to be missed! Have a look at their website and see their accessories, I have my eyes on the stunning feathers.

The VERY lovely Halo Hunnies have given my readers an exclusive code which will give you 10% off any Halo, just enter sherriehalo in the code section for your discount to work. Enjoy!


Boots 17 Miami Pop & Collection 2000 Shimmer Quad

I bought this ages ago and keep meaning to blog about it, I wasn't going to pick anything up from the collection but found myself having a look. Once I saw this was the last I grabbed it and had a little play with the tester before caving in and buying it! I also bought Blushalicious from Collection 2000 after ready Holly's review on this.


 ~ Limited Edition Miami Pop Bronzer~


This is very pigmented and you need a very light hand when applying this, I think the reason I caved in was because I don't actually have a warm shimmer like this. I know Mac brought out a similar shade in their Semi Precious collection called Goldstone, I would love to know if these are similar shades.I've been wearing this very lightly over the top of Mac Springsheen and love the rosy gold effect this creates. I can't remember how much I paid for this but think it was roughly £4.90ish?? I just checked the Boots website and it must be sold out now. Where you lucky to snap one up?


Next up is Blushalicious which looks very similar to Givenchy Le Prisme Blush but at a fraction of the price! I like all the shades separately and also all swirled together. I did find this one not to be as pigmented as I would've hoped so I'm not sure if it's just this one. Has anyone else found this or tried this?


 Sadly I didn't find this one very pigmented and the swatches looked rubbish so I've left them out.
I have found myself scraping the tops of the powders to try and get more pigment, I'm not sure if I've got grease or something on them? It's a shame because this is very good value and only cost £4.19.

Have you got these? How do you wear them?