NYC Colour Instinct Palette - Dinner and a Show

NYC Colour Instinct Palette in Dinner and a Show
£2.49 Superdrug

Swatches

This eyeshadow quad (named Dinner and a Show) from NYC is part of the Colour Instinct range. It was purchased in a grab and buy situation from Superdrug a few weeks ago and cost me £2.49. Sadly it's not on the Superdrug website so I'm unsure if that was the permanent price or whether it was on offer. 

I grabbed this mainly because it was so cheap and as a lover of brown and nude shadows it never hurts to have back ups. A tiny amount of navy blue shadow is included in this palette which I think is a bit of an odd colour choice, blue and brown aren't exactly two colours I'd always put together! Instead I think they should have gone with a black or maybe even an olive green eyeshadow, anyway for £2.49 I guess you can't complain.

This palette contains four eyeshadows, due to how they are arranged (which looks very pretty) each eyeshadow differs in size. Having swatched them the colour pay off isn't outstanding....but then being so cheap I wouldn't expect it to be! I was pleasantly surprised with the two lightest shades which are shimmery and do have fairly good pigmentation. The two darker shades are both matte and whilst not amazingly pigmented, they are buildable. I don't think I'll get much wear out of the blue but the brown is a good shade - you can never have too many browns or neutrals!

The staying powder is ok, obviously it had mostly disappeared by the end of the day, but I didn't notice it wearing off quicker than any other eyeshadows I own.

I have never purchased anything from NYC before, it normally sits next to the Miss Sporty stand in what I refer to as the teen make up section of Superdrug. Eyeing the display I did spot a few little gems in the range and I have heard great things about the colour wheel blushers, so perhaps that will be the next purchase. Let me know in the comments if you've ever purchased anything from the NYC range.

Look Nail Polish

I've been really impressed with the relatively new Look Make Up range, not only have the products received rave reviews from bloggers but the packaging is very cute and the range of nail polish colours is amazing! Unfortunately my local Superdrug doesn't stock the range (boo) but on a recent shopping trip to a bigger store I managed to pick up three nail polishes.

From L to R: Kimono, Hotpants and Vintage, £5 each

The nail polishes or 'nail pops' are a good size and priced at £5 for 10 ml. I know I'm not the only one who wishes Superdrug wouldn't plaster the products with those ugly security stickers, not pretty Superdrug..not pretty! Rant over and onto the swatches:

Vintage

Vintage is such a beautiful shade and I think it's my favourite out of the three. The colour is a gorgeous light blue which looks pretty and fresh worn on the nails. The formula is good and gives an even coverage, drying to a polished, glossy finish. I think this is a really lovely shade for Spring and I'm keen to wear this on my nails again soon.

Kimono

I bought this shade because it resembles a certain Peridot by Chanel. As you can see from the photographs it looks different depending on the lighting, changing from golden green to a shimmering bronzed colour. This is such an interesting nail polish to wear and given that I don't own a green polish I felt it deserved a place in my collection. This is a great polish to buy if you love the look of Peridot but don't want to pay Chanel prices.

Hotpants

Hotpants (love the name!) was my final nail polish purchase, I own nothing similar and really loved the gorgeous bronze colour of this polish. I find both Kimono and Hotpants dry quickly and look beautiful after just one coat (although I always apply two) the finish is shimmery and catches the light beautifully. I think this makes a great everyday colour and the bronze shade goes with anything.

I am keen to try out other products from the Look range especially as I've heard great things about the eyeshadows, blushers and mascara. One thing I am disappointed about is that I can't seem to find a website for the range, also it doesn't seem to be available on the Superdrug website although they do have a facebook page. I really hope the range becomes available online soon as I would love to browse/buy online.

I Love...

I Love...Coconut & Cream Nourishing Body Butter, £1.99, Superdrug

"Escape to paradise; an exotic explosion as my tropical cocktail of sweet

 coconut and velvety cream aromas leave you drifting away to your very

 own idyllic beach hideaway!"

I had never heard of the brand I Love... until I found this baby in my Christmas stocking. I have bored you all to death on numerous past occasions with the fact that coconut is one of my favourite scents and when coupled with cream I was guessing that this couldn't smell anything other than divine. I was wrong, it smells even better! Kind of a creamy coconut meets cookie dough meets vanilla vibe going on, I wish blogger had a scratch and sniff function because I would love you all to smell this!

The cream itself is lovely and rich and absorbs easily into the skin without leaving a greasy film, the scent lingers lightly on the skin and is not overpowering. With a combination of coconut oil and shea butter my skin felt well hydrated and lovely and soft after use.

The pot contains 200ml of moisturiser and due to the thickness of the cream I can see it lasting a while. When researching for this post I discovered it only costs £1.99 which is a bit of a bargain in my eyes and the brand is sold at Superdrug as well as selected supermarkets. This cream makes a fantastic budget body butter and I am really enjoying using it at the moment!

What's in My Holiday Bag? Part 2

When I'm on holiday I rarely wear make up during the day, so make up application is reserved mainly for night time. I hate to take expensive make up products on holiday as I worry about losing them or damaging them in transition, with so many quality drugstore products out there it's easy to build a great holiday make up collection. The products I am taking are (Clockwise from top):

Lypsyl tinted Cherry Blossom Lip Balm 4g £1.49, Boots: A very cheap product, I like the fact it is ever so slightly tinted, smells lovely and contains an SPF 15. To give you all the blurb it also contains Vitamin E, Aloe Vera and helps protect against UVA and UVB rays. On application it feels moisturising on my lips and even tastes nice, however you need to warm the product up slightly in your hand before applying otherwise it is very hard and waxy.

Rimmel Stay Matte Pressed Powder in Transparent £3.99, Superdrug: This is my everyday powder which I use to combat shine, you can tell how well loved it is from how little is left in the pan. I don't like to wear powdery products in warm countries as they don't look good on the skin, however I am taking this as I hate the look of a shiny t-zone!

Collection 2000 Lasting Perfection Concealer in Fair £4.19, Boots: My favourite concealer, see my post on it here.

Revlon PhotoReady Foundation in Vanilla 30ml £12.99, Boots: My favourite light foundation, which is perfect for summer evenings. I like to mix a touch of this with moisturiser to make a DIY tinted moisturiser.

Benefit Gilded Tangerine Gold Highlighter Pencil £14.00, Benefit: A gorgeous gold creamy highlighter which I like to smudge under my eyes, I love gold eyes on holiday so this pencil is perfect.

Benefit High Beam, Sample Size Free with Glamour Magazine: A great highlighter for cheekbones, brow bones and the cupids bow.

No 7 Gel Liner in Black 4g £10.00, Boots: - This was part of No7 Spring 2011 collection, see my full review here. It's a great multifunctional liner which can be used on the eyelids and on the waterline, best of all it's waterproof so will hopefully stay put in humid conditions!

Bourjois Bronzing Powder Shade 51 16.5g £6.99, Superdrug: The much loved Bourjois Bronzing Powder in the lightest shade, see my review here. I'm hoping this will go someway to making me look tanned on holiday....wishful thinking!

Gosh Jumbo Lip Gloss Pencil 02 Flamenco Coral 2.8g Discontinued:  Sadly this lip gloss has been discontinued which is a shame as it's fab and I wish I'd bought more colours! This colour is a beautiful glossy coral and will be great to wear in the evenings.

Gosh Jumbo Lip Pencil 02 Flamenco Coral Swatch

Beauty UK Earth Child Palette £3.99, Superdrug: I have previously discussed the Earth Child Palette on my blog, see here for swatches. I am mainly taking this palette for the black eyeshadow however the other range of colours particularly the browns and greens will be lovely to use too. This palette is cheap enough to repurchase if it does get damaged.

MUA Heaven and Earth Palette £4, Superdrug: A very recent purchase, a full review of this palette will be coming soon! I couldn't resist taking this with me as the neutral colours are beautiful and it saves me lugging my Naked Palette half way around the word!

Max Factor Masterpiece Mascara in Black £8.99, Boots: My favourite mascara of all time! See here for more details. This is not the waterproof version so this will only be used during the evenings, I don't want to be sporting panda eyes by the pool.

Collection 2000 Clear Lash and Brow Mascara £2.99, Boots:  I purchased this instead of a black waterproof mascara, I'm hoping it will give my lashes some definition during the day with no worry of smudges and keep my brows groomed at night. I last bought this product 10 years ago so it will be nice to revisit it, plus clear mascara is a very handy thing to have in your make up collection.

Stay tuned for the third and final part of this series :)

What's in My Holiday Bag? Part 1

I am off on holiday this week and ever since I booked my tickets I have become obsessed with What's in my Holiday Bag videos on You Tube. I don't want to presume anyone has any interest in what I'm taking on holiday but I couldn't resist doing a post on the products I'm taking before I go, In the hope that maybe someone out there - at some point in the future - might find this useful. I haven't included every single product I'm taking (otherwise we'd be here forever!) to save you all from complete boredom I have omitted all the boring products, I'm pretty sure no one wants to see my bug spray, deodorant or toothbrush! :)

L to R: Garnier Body Intensive Hydrating Lotion 400ml £2.99, Superdrug,
Nivea Sun DNAge Face Sun Cream SPF 50 50ml £7.69, Superdrug,
Hawaiian Tropic Sun Lotion SPF 30 200ml £12.25 Superdrug.

First up is Sun cream. Being such a pale thing I don't fair particularly well in the sunshine, I do tan but it takes a long time and I'm prone to burning. I can't stand being sunburnt, not only is it painful but it's also very bad for your skin so I tend to wear a high factor. The suncream I have chosen to take on holiday is Hawaiian Tropic Sun Lotion in Factor 30, I have never used this before but it was recommended to me by a fellow pale skinned girl who just got back from two weeks in Mexico so it should be fine on my skin. Whilst I love the smell of all sun cream (mmm coconut scents!) this one smells particularly lovely! It doesn't feel sticky or greasy (v. important!), absorbs into the skin quickly and best of all is water resistant and has UVA and UVB protection which is a must with all sun cream!

Next up is the Nivea DNAge Face Sun Cream SPF50. I always use a really high factor on my face as I develop freckles easily and I'm hoping to avoid looking like a leather handbag by the time I'm 40. Nivea is a brand I trust and I use Nivea lotion every single day, so it was natural to buy my face sun cream from them. This will be slapped on my face, hands and decollete, I also pop higher factors over my moles - I have no idea whether this makes any difference but I like to be cautious and cover them in a high factor. The cream feels light and not too heavy or greasy for the face area...no one likes it when sun cream causes break outs! 

The price of After Sun is ridiculous so rather than spend £10 on a bottle of 'official' After Sun I opted to spend £2.99 on this bottle of Garnier Body Intensive Hydrating Lotion with Aloe Vera. It smells lovely and fresh and will hopefully feel cooling on my skin after a day in the sun.

L to R: The Pink Cow Vanilla Biscuit Bath and Shower Gel 500ml £2.99, Boots,
Alberto Balsam Coconut and Lychee Shampoo and Conditioner 400ml
£1 each, Poundland

Whilst the size is a little excessive I chose to take The Pink Cow's Vanilla Biscuit Shower gel as the boyfriend and I agreed to share it - I'm sure he'd kill me if he knew I'd revealed his love of girly fragranced shower gels on my blog! The product smells great, sweet and vanillary and best of all it doubles up as a bath foam and shower gel. I was not going to bother taking any body products but I'd rather take my own than rely on the hotel's toiletries, plus it is cheap enough to chuck out at the end of the holiday.

It's become a bit of a holiday tradition to purchase the very cheap Alberto Balsam shampoos and conditioner for my holidays. I tend to buy a different scent for each holiday and as a result certain fragrances remind me of particular places - the freesia one will always remind me of our family apartment in Florida and Sunkissed Raspberry (my favourite) makes me think of a friend's hen do in Malaga. For this holiday I chose coconut which I was delighted to come across (in Poundland no less!) as I have never seen this fragrance before and I am a total coconut fiend! These shampoos are very basic and gentle, they don't do anything fancy other than clean your hair and are perfect for holidays when you are constantly dipping in and out of the water.

Stay tuned for part two of this series which details my holiday make up :)

Freshly Painted: Collection 2000 Hot Looks in Big Hair

Collection 2000 Hot Looks in 29 Big Hair, £1.79, Superdrug

I can't get enough of the Collection 2000 Hot Looks polishes, aside from the super low price tag the colours in the range are fab and they are fast drying too! This shade is called Big Hair and it is an amazingly bright red. It was actually my mum who said I needed to buy this nail polish and I'm so pleased I did, it's a really classic red colour and cost next to nothing.

Superdrug Beautycard

As you probably know, Superdrug have recently launched their answer to the Boots Advantage Card. The Superdrug Beautycard works in the same way as the Boots version, where you earn points for spending in store and online, you can then use these points to purchase products in store.

I picked my Beautycard up last weekend, it has a mirror on the front which is slightly gimmicky but who knows...maybe it will come in handy one day?

Pros:

* You can earn points on Superdrug purchases to spend on other products in store.

* In store promotions and offers where you can earn more points.

* Exclusive email offers sent to you and special 'Beautycard perks' when you register your card.

* With the Beautycard, you can pay using a mixture of points and cash...something the Advantage Card does not allow.

Cons:

* It's not as good as the Advantage card! The Boots version earns you 4 points for every £1 you spend, the Superdrug version only gives you 1 point per £1 spent, at that rate you would have to spend £100 in store just to earn a measly £1 in points!

I generally buy products from Boots (unless they are Superdrug own brands such as Sleek or Gosh) mainly because I like earning Advantage Card points. Superdrug's Beautycard isn't a strong enough competitor to the Advantage card as the points are a bit on the stingy side. However, it is nice to have a Superdrug alternative and if you are a Superdrug shopper it would be worth picking up a Beautycard....some points are better than no points!

Cosmopolitan Blend Perfection Sponge

"For amazingly flawless foundation application"

I rarely used to use anything more than my fingers to apply foundation, brushes never seemed to work well enough and make up sponges were always a bit too flimsy. I started seeing great reviews about the Cosmopolitan Blend Perfection Sponge, and thought I would give it a go....I have to say, it has completely changed my make up routine.

This sponge is a lot studier and firmer than any other make up sponge I have tried, the shape makes it easy to hold and it is perfect for using in a variety of ways. I like to use a stippling action with the base of the sponge on my t-zone, the cone shaped tip is perfect for using on those hard to reach areas such as around the nose and under the eyes, I also turn the sponge on its side and use a bounce/rolling motion along my jawline and forehead. The texture of the sponge leaves your skin with an airbrushed finish, it gives an even coverage of foundation, leaving skin with a healthy look. I love this sponge so much that I have started using it with other products including concealer, liquid and cream blushers and liquid highlighter....the Cosmopolitan sponge blends them all in flawlessly. 

One downside to this sponge is that because it is so big (as far as make up sponges go) it sucks up a lot of product and as a result wastes a lot of foundation. To combat this problem I roughly apply foundation to my face using a brush/fingers and then use the sponge to simply blend in. Also, because of the size it takes ages to clean and my foundation seems to have stained the sponge....which isn't ideal!

The Blend Perfection sponge costs £4.99, which I initially thought was a bit pricey for a make up sponge, especially when you can buy a multipack of 15 for under £3 in Superdrug.  However, the results you get from this sponge are second to none and I personally don't believe you could achieve such a flawless finish using a brush or your fingers. In my opinion this sponge is well worth the money, especially when you consider foundation brushes cost from £10 up, it has changed my make up routine and I would hate to apply foundation without it.

2true Instant Volume Mascara

Most of my posts could start with the phrase... 'I bought this product because I saw Lisa Eldridge using it in one of her videos'. In the case of this mascara... I did only buy the product because Lisa Eldridge mentioned it in her Fresh Pink Lip video.

I am pretty fussy when it comes to mascara as most seem to smudge and flake on me, as a result I generally stick to my beloved Max factor Masterpiece mascara. I was surprised when Lisa recommended a 2True mascara, being one of the cheapest mascaras you can buy I did doubt the quality. Nevertheless, Lisa is one Lady who knows her make up so I decided for the sake of £2 it was worth trying out.

2True Instant Volume Mascara, No 1 Black, £1.99, Superdrug

2True is not a brand I have ever tried or even looked into before, I know it's cheap and occupies a flimsy stand at the start of the make up aisle in my local Superdrug. In store, I pretty much grabbed the mascara and paid, I didn't look at the other products from the range but I believe they all cost £1.99 and I think there was a deal where you could buy 3 for £5.

On first impression it came across as a bog standard mascara, nowadays most mascaras seem a bit gimmicky....with a special wand, or the promise of making your lashes grow longer, it was almost weird to see such an ordinary looking mascara wand.

This product has surprised me, I really didn't expect anything from it but it applies easily, separates lashes nicely and doesn't clump. It is a very natural looking mascara, perfect for day time/office/school wear. This mascara lasted the whole day on me with minimal amounts of smudging and didn't flake (woohoo!). I was really impressed with the quality of this mascara, it's a lot better than many pricier mascaras I have tried in the past and proves you don't need to splash out on a high end mascara when there are so many brilliant 'drugstore' versions out there, which do the same thing for a fraction of the price. I think next time I'm in Superdrug I will check out the rest of the 2True range. Thanks Lisa!

Sleek Pan Tao Blusher

A high pigmented show stopping shade that will see heads turning

This blusher is from the very pretty Avoir La Peche collection by Sleek. I first clocked it last weekend and after some swatching decided against purchasing anything as it all seemed a bit too orange. Then the online reviews emerged, and I instantly regretted not having a proper look at the collection.

So a week later I trundled back to Superdrug fearing it would have sold out (I never did find Molten Metal in store) but luckily all three items were still in stock. As a somewhat pasty girl, I recognise that orangy/coral colours are more suited to warm skin tones, for this reason I overlooked the Sugar May pout polish and whilst I was tempted by the beautiful Paraguaya palette, realistically I would only wear a few of the shades, as proven by the fact I have barely touched the Good Girl idivine palette. Recently, I have been watching a number of You Tube tutorials featuring coral colours, and a coral blusher was definitely on my mind. The Pan Tao blusher, retailing at a reasonable £4.30, seemed like the perfect option.

This blusher is a really bright orange/hot coral colour, completely lacking in pink tones. I will warn you, in the pan it is bright orange.....I mean really orange... frighteningly orange! which is the main reason I overlooked it in the first place. As with all Sleek blushers it is highly pigmented, you need a very light hand to apply, but when worn it gives a lovely peachy glow. I have attempted to take a picture of a swatch showing it fairly lightly applied, so you can see it's not some horrible highlighter pen orange colour.

I also just have to mention the packaging, it comes in the normal sturdy blusher holder not too dissimilar to NARS packaging. Just like the other Sleek Blusher I own it is very stiff to open and I worry I will break a nail/shatter the product when opening. However, the flowers on the lid are a very cute addition to the bog standard black Sleek packaging!

All in all I'm happy with my purchase, a coral coloured blusher is something which my make up collection has been lacking up 'til now. If you like coral colours the Avoir La Peche is worth checking out.

Supermarket Sweep

Occasionally I decide to take spur of the moment, late night trips to Tesco...for no reason at all (obviously I lead a very thrilling life). Recently I pootled along to my nearest 24 hour store to stock up on some concealer, only to find the shutters on the make up counters locked - on a side note why do Supermarkets do this at night? Can make up only be sold during the day? Is it because more people steal make up at night? If so, what are all those very obvious security cameras attached to each make up counter doing? All that was left was a limited peg section housing All About Face and Barbara Daly cosmetics. These are two brands I have never really explored before, but have heard only good things about the Barbara Daly range so I thought it was worth a browse. 

First up the All About Face brand which is Tesco's affordable make up range. Everything in this line is £1.49 which is a pretty good price point, I purchased 3 eyeshadows:

From left: Baby Doll, Gold Shimmer, Meadow - all £1.49

These are three very pretty colours, however the pigmentation isn't amazing. Rather than a standard eyeshadow I would describe these as giving a wash of colour, a product I would use as a base or a highlighter rather than using alone. All three eyeshadows are shimmery, but Gold shimmer is the only metallic eyeshadow of the three, as a result it has a slightly different texture from the other two, and seems more crumbly which makes it a bit messier to apply.

All About Face eye pencil in Bronze £1.49

My next purchase was the All About Face eyeshadow in Bronze. The eye pencil also came in a silvery/grey colour, however I felt the bronze version would be more wearable. The colour comes out a beautiful metallic golden, bronze and I imagine it would look lovely on all skin tones. The pencil is pretty fat and you can twist the end to bring more product up....no sharpening required. I really love this eye pencil, it's very soft and easy to apply, the only downside is it isn't long lasting and disappears relatively quickly. It's a shame Tesco don't produce this pencil in more colours, I would like to have seen a shimmery baby pink, gold and a frosty white version. 

The final product I purchased was from the Barbara Daly range.

Barbara Daly Light & Easy Shimmering Highlight

The Barbara Daly range was pretty slim pickings but this highlighter caught my eye. It's a beautiful frosty shimmer which I have taken to using everyday on my cheekbones, just under the arch of my brow and on my Cupid's bow. The packaging is very simple and sleek, but the talcum powder like dispenser is slightly annoying. I would prefer for the product to be a loose powder, the dispenser means I have to shake some product onto the back of my hand to dip my powder brush into....slightly messy! 

I would like to check out more of the Barbara Daly range, unfortunately most of it was locked away at the time of visit, so I will have to go back when the make up counters are open. I would say both brands are worth a look, All About Face is cheap and cheerful and I would recommend the eye pencil, but more exciting high street brands can be found in Boots and Superdrug.

Superdrug Clarity Shine Control Paper

Shine control paper or oil absorbing sheets have been around for years, i never really paid much attention to them until I started using Maxfactor Xperience foundation, see review here, a foundation which makes my skin look greasy by lunchtime (I'm determined to use it all up before buying another - I don't like to waste make up). I hate having a shiny nose, and decided that carrying shine control paper is probably easier than carting round a powder compact complete with full size powder brush.

The Blurb: Clarity Shine Control Paper works to absorb excess oil from the skin, leaving a trace of translucent mattifying powder for an instantly fresh, shine-free finish.

The shine control paper from the Clarity range is the only oil absorbing paper I found available in my small-ish branch of Superdrug. It is not available online and the receipt has long since been thrown away, but I think a pack of 65 sheets cost around £2.85, which is pretty inexpensive when you consider Mac's version cost £10.50 for 30 sheets. Saying that, for a Superdrug brand I had hoped they would be around the £1.99 mark....but hey what's 86p?

The papers come in a little booklet, roughly the same size as the palm of my hand, making them very portable, and they remain in my handbag at all times. To use them you rip out a sheet, dab it on your face where you have excess shine, the paper mops up the oil and you are left with matte looking skin. The paper does a fab job of absorbing excess oil....it's so satisfying (and kind of disgusting) to see how much oil the paper sucks up. I wasn't aware of any powder on the paper until I read about it on the back of the packet, but it explains why the paper does a great job of mattifying the skin. I use these over the top of makeup, and I don't find they interfere with my make up in any way, as you only dab the paper on your face rather than rub it in.

I don't think you can really use these in public as it looks a bit strange to be dabbing a sheet of brown paper on your face.... I also kind of love inspecting the paper afterwards (I do this with pore strips too - yes I'm weird!).

I will definitely be repurchasing these when they run out, they are so handy for freshening up your skin in the middle of the day and have become one of my secret beauty staples. I only need to use one a day if my skin is looking shiny and 65 sheets should last me a good while. I think these will be really handy in the summer when the heat makes skin extra oily.

For anyone out there who is it weird like me and wants to see, I have included a picture of some used paper to illustrate how much oil these sheets can get off your face. This was used on what I would consider non oily, non shiny skin....yet it still managed to soak up a shocking amount of oil. If you don't like this kind of thing don't scroll down.... you have been warned!

Scary huh?

Freshly Painted - Gosh Holographic

Gosh 549 Hologrpahic

Behold Gosh holographic nail polish.
It has now been discontinued, but I couldn't resist picking it up when I found it in the half price bin at Superdrug. If you ever wanted your nails to look like a spangly American Apparel leotard, then this is the nail polish for you!

The polish itself is fairly streaky and you need to apply a minimum of 3 coats for a decent effect, but the final result is an interesting, silvery-rainbow look....it reminded me of a mermaid's tail.

I'm guessing my bottle must be quite old. I only opened it last week but already it has gone quite thick and gloopy. I don't mind too much as I only paid around £2 for it, and I don't imagine I will be reaching for this polish very often.

One thing to note is that it chips like no other nail polish I have ever tried. I had this on my nails a mere two days before I had to remove it, due to the polish being so badly chipped!

Nivea Pure and Natural Milk and Honey Lip Balm

Milk and Honey...mmmm

When I saw this on offer in Superdrug for £1 i thought I'd try it out. Lip balm is a real staple for me during the winter months, there's nothing worse than dry, chapped lips.

The packaging states that it is 100% free from preservatives and contains natural ingredients - organic Shea butter, jojoba oil, honey and milk extracts.....so all good stuff.

I was really attracted to this lip balm because of the flavour (is that what you call it?) - milk and honey.....I love milk and honey scented products....for some reason I always associate them with the Egyptians...milk baths etc, maybe I'm hoping a stick of Nivea lip balm will transform me into Cleopatra?

Sadly, I was really disappointed with the scent of this product, it's nothing special, in fact it smells like honey and lemon Lockets (throat sweets). I hate Lockets and the smell just reminds me of feeling under the weather. I hoped the lip balm would smell like the Palmolive milk and honey products....whose scent I love, but it's nowhere near as nice.

The tube is definitely handy, i much prefer applying lip balm this way, it is a lot more hygienic than dipping your finger into a tub of lip balm. It's also easy to apply and doesn't leave you with a greasy finger tip.

As for the product itself....the consistency is not as greasy as Vaseline and not as thick as Carmex, it moisturises my lips nicely and lasts on the lips for a decent amount of time. 

All in all, I like the handy packaging, the fact it's made with natural ingredients and is preservative free. However, the scent is pretty average, and I probably wouldn't repurchase, not when there's so many other lip balms on the market.

Products I'm Loving

A little collection of products I love at the moment...

Batiste Brit...buy it for the scent!

I don't think I could live without dry shampoo, it's such a cheap and effective way to refresh your hair between washes...a godsend when you have long locks like moi. I have tried various other brands of dry shampoo, but with Batiste doing such a fine job and costing a mere £2, why bother with high end products?

When I first started using Batiste, there was only the original version available, but with the rising popularity of dry shampoo came more fragrances. The latest offering is Brit, which is exclusive to Superdrug and costs £2.13 a bottle. Firstly, I love the fragrance!! Definitely the nicest smelling Batiste product out there, the scent reminds me of Chloe by Chloe. It refreshed my roots just as well as any other Batiste product does, but as usual you have to watch you blend it in well or you run the risk of having grey-looking hair.
The thing I love most about Brit is that the scent was long lasting and my hair smelt great all day! This replaces Diva as my favourite Batiste product, I will definitely be repurchasing!

Glycerin and Rosewater Toner - lovely stuff!

A classic rosewater toner from the traditional skin care range at Boots. I use this all over my face, including on my eyes to remove eye make-up, as you can see I have already made my way through a quarter of the bottle since Christmas. The product is described as toning and moisturising and as a result does leave my skin feeling tacky, this doesn't bother me as I only use the product at night. The old-school bottle is very cute looking and has a handy top which means you can control the amount of product you use. The toner smells like roses....mmm turkish delight! I would definitely buy again, it's a lovely gentle toner and leaves my skin feeling clean, refreshed and soothed rather than tight, dry or oily.

Merged Baked Blusher in Pretty Pink

Shimmery pinky, lilacy marble-ness

Lightly swatched - top, heavily swatched - bottom (please excuse my veiny wrist!)

This product is so pretty! My first purchase from the Accessorize make up range, I think it cost around £5. Pretty pink is a light pink colour with peach and lilac shimmer marbled through it, the product looks more shimmery on the skin than pink. I personally cannot get enough of glowy, shimmery looking blushers so this is right up my street, but the colour pay off might not be adequate for those die hard blusher fans. This product would be perfect to use as a highlight, but I have worn it alone everyday since purchasing and it gives me a light pinky-peachy glow. I will definitely be checking out more of the Accessorize range next time I'm in Superdrug, very pretty packaging and decent sized products.

Magic golden tube of wonder

My absolute favourite mascara ever! No clumping, no flaking, just gorgeous dark lashes. I haven't used it for a while as my mum kept buying me mascaras (lovely mum!)....Maybelline falsies (hate - caused dry itchy eyes - gave it to my sister in the end), and Revlon Grow Longer (nice mascara with huuuage wand, but bad flaking), so I was overjoyed to find my faithful Masterpiece mascara in my Christmas stocking. I don't have to worry about having panda eyes anymore, yay!

I popped into Superdrug today in the hopes of snagging a Sleek molten metal cream duo, but they were all sold out. I'll just have to make do with the ridiculous amounts of make up I already own 'til I can get my grubby paws on it.