Boots Star Gift - Smashbox #SHAPEMATTERS 3 in 1 Contouring Palette

I know it's a tad early to even start thinking about it, what with it still being fairly warm as well as only being October but I had to share this deal with you!

Boots have just launched their Christmas shop, each week releasing a Star Gift which would make a great present for yourself or someone else - personally this weeks gift is something I wont be giving away!

From Smashbox you get the #Shapematters 3 in 1 Contouring Palette which includes:

- 9 award-winning Photo Op Eye Shadows (Vanilla, Totally Nude, Champagne, Stripped, Posh, Platinum, Sumatra, Aubergine, Blackout)

- 3 Contour Powders for most skin tones

- 1 Highlighter

- 2 best-selling Brow Tech Powders

- 1 Brow Tech Wax

- 1 double-ended Shadow/Brow Brush

- 1 full-size mirror

- 3 Interactive Get The Look Cards (Brow, Face, Eye)

According to Boots' website, this palette has been created with Sephora as is a multi-product palette.

Normally this will be £60, but until the 8th October it's only £30, a total bargain! 

So, head down to Boots or pick one, or two or even three up here online while you can - think I need to go and grab one!

What do you think, too early for Christmas? 

#BigBlogmasproject2014 Day 10 - One for the boys!

One for the Boys by knickersandnails on Polyvore

Morning all, sorry for the lack of post on the 8th, I just needed a day off, plus my photo diary was rubbish!!!

Up today,its time for a post for the men in our lives. I've chosen to go with the big kid adult men in my family and pick a mix of fun and proper presents. All of these are in the Boots 3 for 2 or Christmas offers as its the place I head to first for inspiration or low cost gifts.

Starting off with smellies, I adore the smell of the Boss fragrance, its a repurchase for my boy every year! Add to that a full set from Clarins to keep him clean and handsome for another year.

For a few silly teats, I love the FM shower radio and the Stags head, perfect in our little house. Add to that, something for the boys desk, somewhere to rest his phone or for me to steal!

So we have just a few bits for the boys, I'm sure there are loads more but these are my favourites! What do you think of my choices?! xx

Review - Maybelline Colour Drama (Nude Perfection & Keep it Classy)

Maybelline Colour Drama

Keep it Classy

Nude Perfection
I always read lip product reviews, its something I would love to achieve, perfectly lipsticked lips that last as I'm just to lazy to remember to reapply.  But I never buy any because of the previous point, I am just lazy with lip products. but when I saw reviews of the Maybelline Colour Drama lip pencils I thought it was about time I picked some of them up.

After a quick trip to Boots, I grabbed two from the range - Nude Perfection and Keep it Classy.

Keep It Classy - This is possibly the most misleading product in the world. I swatched this in Boots and under store lights it seemed a dark pinky nude, but when I got it home and tried it I found it to be a pinky berry red. I'm not complaning about the colour as its one that I will reach for a lot but it was a bit of a surprise really.

Nude Perfection - Like the rest of the world, I'm trying to find the perfect Kylie Jenner lip colour and after reading many blogs, I decided to add this one to the collection. Nude Perfection is just that, the perfect nude colour, nothing over the top, just a nice nude.

Application is very easy, just draw it on and away you go. They dry down matte and stay put for up to 3hrs, less if your eating or drinking a lot. Some people report them as feeling a bit dry but I don't find this, if you do then a slick of lip balm will sort this out.  You could wear these on their own or underneath another product to add more colour. I have heard that they are a Nars dupe but I can't really compare as I don't have any of them, but at £4.99 from Boots, I'm not really fussed about the Nars version.

Next on my list is Berry Much, I will report back if I pick this up.
Are there any other colours I should pick up? xx

Review - Bleach Reincarnation Mask

Boots - £6

 Never before have I fallen in love with a product on the first use, not until I used the Reincarnation Mask from Bleach. I've been trying to get my hair into decent condition, I've got lazy with using conditioner, over straightening it, just generally abusing it. After reading countless reviews, I popped down to Boots and picked up a tube, along with a couple of other bits from Bleach, but more on those later.

The Reincarnation Mask is a pre-shampoo treatment, a thick and creamy product that aims to rehydrate stressed out and over processed hair. I wet my hair, whacked a good handful on all over my hair, wrapped it in a towel and left it on for 20mins whilst I got on with the washing up. After a quick rinse and shampoo I left my hair to dry naturally and I was left with with soft, not weighed down hair - this is literally amazing! I naturally have wavy, frizzy hair which becomes massive when I normally air dry my hair, but after using the Reincarnation mask, I have naturally beachy waves without the need for salt spray.

I cannot rave about this enough! For £6 you get a huge tube of product that will last for ages, plus the packaging means you can really squeeze out every last drop. This really is a must for anyone who has over processed or over dyed their hair, I need to go and pick up more of these!

Have you tried anything from the Bleach range? xx

Weekend Offers - Boots

Morning lovelies

As its the first weekend after my payday I think I will probably be heading into town to hit up the shops, even if its only for a wander about, I know I will end up in Boots at some point so I thought I would share some of their offers with you!

Summer is the time I try out new perfumes to put on my Duty Free list but as I'm not going away I might have to take up this offer - I've almost run out of my favourite Ghost so it might have to be popped in the basket!

Woohoo 3 for 2 on Skin Care, time to stock up on my essentials, another bottle of Soap & Glory Peaches and Clean and a couple more bottles of my favourite micellar water. I might also look to picking up some other bits, I'm still in search of a good secondary cleanser and any other bits you think I should try!

Finally, its time to stock up! I've already gone through a couple of bottles this summer so I need to grab another couple - my go to are the SPF 30 from Boots Soltan range and the SPF20 from the Nivea Protect & Bronze range in spray format - if only I'd stuck to these yesterday then I might not be quite so red now!

Let me know if you take up any of these offers and if they are helpful to you! What skincare bits do I need? xx

Review - Boots Botanics Eye Make Up remover

Everyone seems to rave about the Clarins Instant Eye Makeup remover, however I can't justify the price of it, so I picked up the Boots Botanics version.

The Boots Botanics All Bright Eye Makeup Remover seems similar to the Clarins as it's a bi-phase product that you have to shake up before you use.

I find it work really well, it removes waterproof mascara as well as the Benefit They're Real mascara, which for me is the real test as that's a bugger to remove.

It doesn't really have a specific smell, sort of flowery and natural. It mixes up to a slightly oily mixture, it tends to run off cotton will, however it's better with cotton pads. It does leave the skin a little oily around your eye, but obviously cleansing after gets rid of this!

For £3.99, I can't really complain about this at all, it's usually on offer and it does the job with no irritation!

Phase you tried this? How does it compare to the Clarins one? Xx

Thank Boots it's Friday Offer!!!

I know I've already posted today, but I just saw this and needed to share.

Boots currently have a massive offer across their site for the next four days - perfect for picking up presents! 

One thing that I just noticed is that Hydraluron is also included in this and is currently on offer at only £16.99, saving nearly £9 off the full price, I will be stocking up on this and just wanted to share with you!

There are loads of other offers on the site, so do head over to Boots and pick up a bargain - let me know what you get your hands on!!

xx

Review - Collection Fast Stroke EyeLiner

I am the worst person ever when it comes to applying eyeliner but I love how it looks, it really does make a difference, however I never thought I would become addicted to wearing liquid liner - it’s all the fault of the Collection Fast Stroke Liner!

I received this from a Glossybox, ignored it and threw it in my stash and forgot. It wasn't until I was at my parents for a party and realised that I had no liner that my mum gave me this - she's not really a liner fan. So I tried it and fell in love.

Collection Fast Stroke is a nice wet liner that is really easy to apply, it glides on thanks to the felt tip like applicator in a thin line that is really black, it can be built up into a thicker liner, plus it stays put all day.

I love the applicator, it’s made applying it a lot easier, I can use the narrow tip to get into the lash line, or use the side to make it a tad thicker. I do tend to go with a narrow line, it just opens up the eye and that's what I need.

I can't find this on the Boots website to say how much this is, but knowing Collection it won’t break the bank.

I'm still learning with liquid liner, but this is a good starter liner - any tips? What do you think of liquid liner? xx

Virtual Hauling - Topshop Autumn Boots

I know, I'm on holiday but I'm so excited about Autumn as its my favourite season, I like summer but I'm not really a sandals sort of girl, give me chunky boots and socks any day!

So when I was in Topshop recently I couldn't help gazing at the gorgeous boots. I've picked mine for A/W but thought I would show you some of my favourites from Topshop.

Which ones are your favourite?

xx

Lee Stafford Breaking Hair Treatment - Review

Ever since I ombred my hair, I've been on a mission to protect my hair, especially the ends. So when I accidentally picked up a pot of this treatment I thought I would give it a try.

Now, I love the Lee Stafford hair growth treatment - and always stock up when it's on offer,so I had high hopes for this little pot of loveliness and I was not let down

'Lee Stafford Breaking Hair Treatment for damaged, over – processed hair caused by styling and colouring! A super strength saviour to get deep down into the cortex to help build, repair and rehydrate breaking hair. ' it does all of this without a doubt.

I've used it in two ways - first as an in shower or bath treatment, washing my hair first and then slapping a dollop on the ends and leaving for 5-10mins. This give good results as the ends feel silly smooth after and do look better. The second way I use this is by damning the end of my hair, putting an eg sized blob through the ends and then putting up in a bun over night before shampooing out in the morning - this leaves me with easy to style locks in the morning that don't look so frazzled!

I adore this more then I did the Phillip Kingsley elasticizer and the price tag is much more friendly! For £10.99 you get 200ml of product that last ages of you only use this twice a week. Currently Boots have it on offer on a 3 for 2 along with the rest of the breaking hair range, which I might need to pick up.

Any recommendations for hair treatments? Have you tried anything from the Breaking Hair range? Xx

Advent Door 3 - Benefit The POREfessional - Review

 Afternoon lovelies,

Way back in the summer I took these photos and never got round to writing about it as I kinda stopped using it, but now its winter I've fallen back in love with this primer and wanted to share it with you!

Benefit The POREfessional is described as a "pro balm to minimize the appearance of pores". It's a flesh-toned silky, oil-free and completely lightweight make-up primer. The POREfessional works really well at mattifying the skin without it looking dry. My skin just looks very matte and natural and also does nice job of evening out my skin tone before applying foundation. I don't think my pores vanish but I do think they look a lot less noticeable. 

It makes a really good base for make-up, I love blending my foundation over it as its just so smooth! My make up lasts me a fair amount of time before I get a bit oily on my t-zone (my major problem areas, so I expect it) but I find the make up on my cheeks still stays put and no signs of pores coming through.

Without it,my foundation clings to dry spots on my cheeks and vanishes from my T-zone so its something I really can't live without at the moment! 

Its quite pricey really, at £23.50 for 22ml but a little of this does go a long way and it really is worth the price tag! I know this will be added to lots of lists this year! As an extra special treat, you can now buy the Value Size 44ml for £29.50 or purchase something from Benefit at Boots and receive a sample of the POREfessional to try out! It really is an essential for the Xmas Party season!

So, have you tried the POREfessional before? Do you use any other primers that are maybe better? Let me know!

Boots Star Gift - Champneys Complete Home Spa

Evening lovelies,

With only a week to go until we get to tear open the first door on the advent calendar, I thought it was about time to start on X-mas posts - and today's post reatlly is an absolute bargain!

This week, Boots are offering this massive Spa set from Champneys for £24 - saving you £26!



When I saw this in town last night - the man selling it (yes, they had roped in a man!) was wearing the shower cap, giving hand massages to shoppers! I don't know if his selling technique worked but it had a huge crowd around it!

In the set you get:

• Citrus Blush Body Scrub (200g),
• Citrus Blush Shower Gel (200ml),
• Citrus Blush Body Lotion (200ml),
• Skin Comforting Shower Cream (200ml),
• Skin Comforting Bathing Milk (300ml),
• Skin Comforting Body Butter (175ml),
• Body Polisher,
• Drawstring Bag.

All of these total more then £50, with some items only available in the other kits! A perfect gift for mums and mums-in-law this Christmas. You can pick this up at this price for one week only, instore or online! Plus Boots have one of their big Points events on this weekend - £12 for every £1 spent! 

Have you picked up any of the star gifts? What have you got for your mum? xx

L'Oreal Elvive Extraordinary Oil

Afternoon lovelies.

There's been a lot of hype about hair oils recently, with lots of companies bringing out their own version of the infamous Moroccan oils. I've been looking for a less expensive dupe for Moroccan oil and was recommended the Extraordinary Oil from L'Oreal.

The oil comes in a chunky glass bottle with a pump dispenser, and each pump dispenses just the right amount of product for my long hair.

The oil is really lightweight, and spreads really well through Both wet and dry hair, I apply one pump before I dry my hair to help protect and then another pump after I've straightened it to add shine. Although its lightweight, I don't add it towards my roots as I don't want greasy roots.

This leaves my hair smooth and shiny, and helps my split ends appear less obvious.

Boots £9.99

I think for the price, you get 100ml of product that lasts ages for £9.99, this is a great product that is a lot more affordable, but still offers all the benefits of a higher end product.

What do you think - have you tried this before? Xx

Rimmel Santa Rose

Afternoon lovelies.

With going back to school, I've been updating my makeup bag ready for the new season. One product I've picked up came on a recommendation from Tanya Burr in one of her videos on YouTube.

Santa Rose is a gorgeous peachy pink blush, that gives a nice fresh glow to the skin. It's easily build able but very natural - think blushing rather then running for the bus! I find it to be quite matt on my skin which is great, and it lasts about 4 hours before it needs a touchup but I do have oily skin and touch my face a lot!

I love having this in my makeup back for school as its easy to throw on, using my Real Techniques blush brush along the apples of my cheeks.

You can pick these up from Boots for £3.99 and you get 4g of product which is a bargain. This is something I think I will pick up again when this runs out :)

What do you think? Xx

NOTD - Essie Nothing Else Metals

Essie is fast becoming one of the top nail polish brands of the moment, thanks to the diffusion line that launched in Boots and Superdrug this summer.

Essie recently launched their summer collection, a range of metallics, in some awesome colours, and when I saw them, I knew that no other polish would matter (sorry!)

Nothing Else Metals is a pinky toned lilac, swirled with silver which is really pale. It is truly metallic on the nail, however is quite difficult to achieve a smooth finish, even with a decent base you can still see some dragging, but that really is only on close inspections. The wear on these was ok, no chips until day three but tip wear appeared sooner, but that's what tends to happen with metallics.

I love a good metallic and this is one I will return to again. I'd like to try this with a dark purple half moon for a vampy winter take, but I'm not sure how I would do this yet - let me know it this is something you would want to see?

Boots - £7.99

Have you tried any of the metallics?

Marc Jacobs Dot

Afternoon lovelies,

Over the year's I've gathered quite a collection of fragrances, I love how they look in my bathroom, and I do wear them all (not at once, obviously) but my go to brand is Marc Jacobs.

I adore Daisy and Lola so when my mum asked me what I wanted them to pick up for me from Duty Free on their holiday, I knew I had to add Dot.

Dot is inspired by Marcs love for polka dots, although unless you know this, its easy to think it relates to ladybirds, especially with the packaging, the signiture oversize top is so cute!

The perfume itself is a very floral affair, with the initial notes being quite fruity, this warms to a more floral scent with jasmine and orange blossom. Considering this was released as a summer fragrance, its more of an evening scent, but I think I will get more wear out of it over the autumn and into the winter.

It's an Eau de Parfum so it's a lot stronger then an Eau de Toilette, so you only need a very little bit before it becomes overpowering - I can't wait for them to release this as an Eau de Toilette as I suspect that will be a lot fresher then this one.

You can pick Dot up from any perfume shop, however if you buy it from Boots or Boots.com then you recieve a free gift. Mine is the 50ml bottle and cost £47.00, but it also comes in 30ml and 100ml.

Have you tried Dot yet? 

Happy 1st Birthday Benefit They're Real Mascara

Afternoon lovelies, is anyone else practically melting today?!

This weekend marked the 1st Birthday of Benefits much hyped They're real mascara. To celebrate, you can pick up the special set which includes a full sized and a mini mascara, for the price of a normal full sized product.

I'm an absolute mascara horder, I have so many, I change them up weekly, so I held off buying it until recently, but using my Boots points, I finally caved in! (Yes, I have a problem!)

'It's the mascara that's beyond belief! This jet-black mascara lengthens, curls, volumises, lifts & separates lashes for a spectacular "out-to-here" look.'

If any of these happen on my short, stubby lashes then it will be nothing short of a miracle!

No coats

One coat

Two coats

Look at the difference! Not only do my lashes look more defined and thicker, but they look longer. (please ignore my pre-threaded eyebrows!)

The brush is a plastic, short bristled comb, with a spiky ball on the end. I'm not normaly a fan of these brushes but it really worked to separate and coat my lashes with the product.

The product is quite a wet formula which seems to take ages to dry, and I'm concious of it as I carried on getting ready. It doesn't seem to flake to much, it even stayed put when my eyes were streaming after getting my eyebrows threaded! I even wore it in the sun yesterday, and most mascaras run under my eyes but this didn't thankfully, but I can't wait to test it out at work for a full day!

I still think the £18.50 is quite a steep price tag, but it is a high quality mascara, with sleek packaging, and as I spent my Boots points, this was a massive treat for me :)

You can pick this up from Boots counters as part of the set for £18.50, or buy online at Boots.com where unfortunately you don't get the deal but I feel its still worth it! 

What do you think...can you believe 'They're Real'?