NEW BLOG: CHAMPAGNETOTE.BLOGSPOT.CO.UK

Hello, just a post to let you know that I'm no longer going to be based here at Shesmadeup, I've created a new blog called:
 

champagnetote.blogspot.co.uk


So I'd really appreciate it if you could head over there and check it out! Leave me a comment/your blog link and I'll check yours out too.

Thanks for the support you've given me!

Han XX

TBS Banana Shampoo & Conditioner Review

 

 

So I haven’t been here in a while, a month in fact! Simple reason being that through August and July I have purchased very little and with working and the fact that it’s summer, I’ve kinda neglected this place (oops!). So I bought myself a second holiday (which I go on tomorrow, eek!)  and it’s been my boyfriend’s birthday so I’ve been splashing out on him! Next month I look forwards to spending my own birthday cash (Thursday hint hint) on some beauty bits I’ve had my eye on and giving this old thang a little TLC!

                So one thing I did purchase was The Body Shop’s Banana Shampoo and Conditioner. Now because these are banana scented they won’t be to everybody’s taste but it was the fact they were banana that drew me towards buying them! It’s a fun and exciting scent, different to your normal floral fragrances and puts a new spin on those fruity ones. Unfortunately my expectations were too high for this product and I think anticipating that these were going to be hair care must haves, made it all the more disappointing when I figured they just weren’t!

                Both the shampoo and conditioner are banana scented but the formulas only hold a very light fragrance. I expected and wanted the smell to be quite heavy and pungent, but it was neither here nor there! Obviously some people would prefer this, especially if you hate or dislike fragranced body bits, but I don’t, I like all my lotions and potions, shampoos and conditioners to have strong sweet smells, so this was the first let down for me! I also expected the banana-ery smell to stay on my hair once it had been washed, there is nothing I love more than when my hair smells clean and of my selected shampoo, but no, the scent washes away with the soap...

 

Secondly the shampoo formula just doesn’t hold up, no matter how much you massage the formula into the head it just doesn’t lather like you’d expect it to. I love giving my bonce a good scrub (as well as making foamy beards) so this really didn’t make the cut for me. I rated the conditioner slightly higher, but it didn’t make it feel silky and slippery like I expect from most of my conditioners, there was certainly no detangling or conditioning in my opinion!

 

When my hair was dry, there was still no improvement to be seen from this fruity duo. My hair looked dull and not at all smooth; I’ll definitely be sticking to my well-loved Tresemme! The two aren’t exactly cheap either at £4.50 for a 250ml bottle, which is typical of the TBS price range, but for that I expect the quality and performance of a product to be reflected in its price tag.  Some people really do love this product and I wish I did too but for me The Body Shop just hasn’t stepped up to the mark!

Have you tried this product before?  What did you think?

XX

Bourjois Healthy Mix Foundation Review

I’ve been using Bourjois Healthy Mix for around two months now and I’ve got to say, for a drug store foundation this one is fairly commendable. I’ve got this in the shade 53 and to say I tried and tested it on my skin without any help (because they don’t offer it) I think I got a  fairly decent match. The two things I like most about this foundation is that one, it isn’t heavy. You can apply and achieve a light coverage if you wish, apt for these humid summer days but you can easily layer it up for more of a medium coverage.  I also love how it smells! The fruity added ‘therapy’ really adds to it and it is SO much nicer than the chemically offending whiff you get from some foundations! It also makes my brushes smell pretty good too.

It doesn’t combat shine very well, which I suppose is because it’s meant to give off that healthy, dewy look, but because my skin is oily I definitely can’t achieve that without looking like I’m having a hot sweat. I do powder with this one, but for many this is part of routine anyway. The best thing however is that it doesn’t break me out. My skin doesn’t agree with anything, from moisturisers to blushers, I really do struggle to find products that I can wear day to day without unearthing the beasts, so this for me is a breakthrough!

I would say the lasting power is fairly average; I can get through an 8 hour shift but I do need the odd touch up as it eventually disappears from places like my temples and chin? Overall I like it and would recommend it but I would be cautious if you have oily skin like me and aren’t willing to deal with shine!

What are your thoughts on this foundation? Have you tried it?

Essie On The Eye

 

 

I’m not the world’s biggest fan when it comes to nail polishes and painting my nails. Simply because I am very impatient and get very agitated when waiting for them to dry – especially when 9 out of 10 times I try, I  smudge most of my fingers and I ultimately end up back where I started, without nail polish on and considerably grumpier. 

BUT Essie’s little home in the corner of Boot’s has recently been catching my eye, especially the summer 13 colours.  So I thought I would forget my hatred for all things lacquer loving and delve in. Boot’s also have a buy one get one half price offer on Essie products at the minute, not bad! However I thought TWO polishes in one day was pushing it so I came home with the one I loved most, Naughty Nautical.

The colour is super pretty and like with most Essie polishes, the name is so cute. The shade is what I would expect to come from a lime green and minty blue mix, super appropriate for summer. It also has a very subtle glitter pigment within it, it is infact barely noticeable but it definitely adds to that shimmery, watery effect I expect the colour is trying to achieve. 

These colours from Essie have really got me, I even went back like I said I would and purchased Sunday Funday and The More The Merrier. They too are bold bright shades…if it weren’t for these amazing colours I definitely wouldn’t be giving the time of day to painted nails, so Essie must have done something right to get even me to spend over £7 on a varnish!

 

 

The More The Merrier – An electric lime green shade, looks better in the bottle in all honesty but customers at work have described it as ‘interesting’, so that’s something I guess…

Sunday Funday  - Comes second to Naughty Nautical this one! Such a cute girly shade with its coral tones and shimmer.

Two coats of this varnish is required to achieve the full, block colour shown to us from within the bottle. I would say this varnish lasts roughly a week but because my job requires quite a bit of manual work chipping is inevitable with me so I can't share what it's true lasting power may be. The Essie brushes are quite good too, they are thick and spread the paint evenly and more importantly - quickly! I've not had these shades off yet, and neither have my mother and sister!

My Favourite Body Butters

This post is to discuss my all time favourite, alongside my current body butters and moisturisers. It is a fairly modest collection to say the least, no high end brands in this stash! I lather on any one of these depending on my mood, my skin, the weather, or sometimes it’s down to simply being within reaching distance! I love them all equally and yet all for different reasons.

1.      Palmer’s Cocoa Butter Formula – Now everyone loves a bit of Palmer’s, it’s one that many of us will always go back to as it’s just so darn reliable. There is nothing fancy or luxurious about this moisturiser, it’s simply made to straight up soften, smooth and relieve and it does just that. This is a butter that I tend to use mainly in the summer when my skin is more exposed to the sun and whilst I’m building up a tan. It also gets it’s fair usage when I’ve come back off a holiday and I’m trying my best to maintain my glow! Palmer’s does help to do this, it keeps your skin hydrated and moisturised which is what my skin cries out for after a mere week in the sun! I apply this both morning and night as with a tan my skin becomes very dry and uncomfortable and I often start to peel if I miss moisturising even once! So in these times it’s a saviour! It is in fact recommended as an after tanning butter which is the initial reason for me buying this all those moons ago, but what is also a big plus is that it works to even out skin tones and smooth out marks and scars. The only thing I’m not too keen on with this product is the cocoa butter scent but I think that’s because I’ve used it soo much and so often that I’ve just gone off it (this tends to happen with most things such as perfume annoyingly enough).

2.     Garnier Summer Body Mosturising Lotion – I’ve been using this for sooo long, that I actually think it’s time for a change! This product isn’t your ‘slap on after a shower body crème’, but a moisturiser that works to gradually build a subtle sun-kissed glow. In the past I’ve used it all over the shop, legs, arms, face, you name it but these days I tend to just stick to the pins. It’s great because it doesn’t create the mess and require the preparation that true false tanning does and what’s even better is that it lasts for ages! I’ll usually apply this once each morning for two/three days (bearing in mind that you should let it dry into the skin for a while before putting your skinnys on!) and then for the next week those unsightly milk bottles are no more! What I find however is that the product never truly or fully sinks into the skin and it can leave your skin feeling slightly sticky so showering before your next application is usually best! It’s not great for solely moisturising but for a hint of colour I can’t fault it.

3.     The Body Shop Strawberry Body Butter/The Body Shop Mango Body Butter – Hail the budget beauty body butters of all time (although I think Soap & Glory could now be a close second!). The Body Shop are well known for their tubs of ‘smells so good you could eat it’ goodness, and I think it would be hard to find a household in Britain that doesn’t have one of these, big or small, rolling around in the back  of a drawer somewhere or pride of place on the dressing table. They do exactly what they’re made for – buttering up that body. I’ve not stopped using these two of late and I sometimes have to ‘ip, dip, dop, do’ over which one to use as they both smell SO good. The consistency is really light and creamy and dries into the skin wonderfully. The scent on them lasts pretty much all day too so you don’t need to worry about smelling questionable by the end of your graveyard shift!

4.     PINK Warm & Cosy Supersoft Bodylotion -  Last but not least is a Victoria’s Secret favourite of mine, simply because it smells so good. This was bought at roughly Christmas time, hence the name, so I’m not sure whether they still sell this anymore. I used it a lot over the winter period and unfortunately it’s been cast aside while the more summer fruity fragranced lotions take over! The scent isn’t what I would call a staple winter scent as it is quite a sweet vanilla fragrance but it is quite heavy and it doesn’t scream summer but for those miserable wet British days it could well make another appearance!  Plus I love the cute pump packaging it comes in!

Do you have a favourite body butter? Could you recommend a  moisturiser you’ve recently tried out?

Parklife '13 Baby!

Not a beauty inspired post this time round but I have good reason! This weekend saw over 150,000 music lover’s flock to Manchester to see Bon Jovi at the Etihad, Rod Stewart at the Arena and of course to enjoy the much anticipated PARKLIFE at Heaton Park. This is literally on my doorstep being only a twenty minute drive from my house so I grabbed a ticket alongside one of my Uni friends and pals and embraced an epic weekend! The weather couldn’t have been any finer, it was the best weather we’ve seen in a while and the sun didn’t stop shining for the whole two days. Everyone was in high, happy spirits and just generally having a belting time! In all honesty I didn’t know many of those featured on the line-up as it was mainly house Dj’s ect but from those that I did know, being Disclosure, Rudimental, Jessie Ware, Rita Ora, Delphic, Plan B and Example, they all put on a cracking show. Example held the best set of the weekend for me, he kept up the tempo and even though I wouldn’t consider myself a fan of his he really did send everyone off on a high on the Sunday night! I’m pretty gutted it’s over to be honest, had such a good crack with the people I know and with the people I met! And my fuzzy head, aching bones and 8 hour shift come Monday morning were definitely worth it despite my desperate pleas for mercy!  

 

 

Parklife isn’t a camping festival, which didn’t bother me too much as I’ve done all that before and to be honest going home to a shower and a fresh bed is SO what you need after a pissed up day in the sun. Plus it gives you time to prepare for doing it all again the following day! I would recommend Parklife to anyone who loves a beer, a dance, being with their mates, music and the sun…not guaranteed of course, but even in the rain (I’ve been to Leeds Fest in the past wading through inches of mud in a downpour) you can still have an awesome time!

 

 

 

 

Did you go to Parklife this year? Do you have any different festivals lined up?

Bikini Buys

 

 

I’m hoping to get a summer holiday booked in the next few weeks so of course I’ve been looking at overpriced bits of material to cover up my funny bits! In other words, bikinis. I do love a good bikini, the pricetag’s however, not so much but I usually buy two to three new ones each year to satisfy my money wasting compulsion. I know that the standard bra and brief combo is kinda going out the window now and it’s all about the high waist, bandeau and all in one but as much as I like them I want as much flesh exposed as possible! I ain’t susceptible to hiding from the sun, so these are some picks I’ve come across that I like the look of and might possibly purchase!

1.       I bought this bikini from Dorothy Perkins about a month ago and I really love it! The pattern is totally me, I love floral designs. I got it for a bargain too as there was 15% student discount at the time so I got the whole set for under twenty quid!
Dorothy Perkins – Top: £14 Bottom: £9

2.       This is another one from Dorothy Perkins; I’m loving polka dot at the minute so this really caught my eye. I think DP offers reasonable prices too, especially when you can get your student discount whacked on top!
Dorothy Perkins – Top: £14 Bottom: £9

3.       I’m not the biggest Jack Wills fan but this combo is too cute to miss. It’s so summery and girly, what isn’t there to like! That might be the price actually…£29.50 for the top and £19.50 for the bottoms is STEEP and not really justifiable, on to the next one…
Jack Wills – Top: £29.50 Bottom: £19.50

4.       I really like the fringe detail on this bikini; it’d look fab with a few necklaces and bracelets on the beach!
Miss Selfridge - £26 set

5.       Now this is high waisted but I LOVE it. Lemons might not be for everyone but I think it’d look really good once your tan has developed, maybe not one for the first day…
Topshop - £34 set

6.       This is my other favourite, it’s simple but I love the pastel colours used and I think I’ll definitely be going trying this one on!
River Island – Top: £16 Bottom: £12


What’s your favourite place to shop swimwear? Had a bikini bargain this month? Please share!

Mentally Spending...

 

So these products are what I’ll be itching to spend my June paycheck on! They are pretty much all high end, pricey products so I will probably only purchase two or three realistically, a girl can dream though ey!

 

Nars Laguna Bronzer - £26: I’ve heard everyone rave about this from Tanya Burr to my best friends so I really want to try it out for myself, apparently this makes for the perfect contouring product!

Chanel Chance - £74: This is a such an expensive fragrance and I’m not sure when or if I’ll end up getting it but it’s definitely on my wishlist. A friend at work wears it all the time and I love it on her, it’s a really fresh scent and different to what I normally go for in a perfume.

Liz Earle Hot Cloth Cleanser - £14.75: I’m always on the lookout for new ways to treat my skin and to remove makeup. This has had really positive reviews so I’m excited to try it out. No7 at Boots do a great dupe apparently so I might try that one out too!

Bumble & Bumble Surf Spray - £20.50: I’m not sure if my hair actually needs this as my hair is naturally curly but hopefully it will tame it into soft beach waves!          

Mac Vegas Volt - £14: I saw this lippy used by Alix at icovetthee.com and it looked amazing on her so I’ve pined for it ever since!

Chanel Vitalumiere Foundation - £34: Chanel is one of the best brands on the market and the same goes for their foundations, I’ve been dying to get my hands on one for a while to see if they really are worth the hype and money!

Mac 168 Contour Brush - £26: I’ve been after this brush for a while, but the price keeps putting me off, I am a student afterall!

Nars Tropic Eyeshadow - £18: I saw this whilst online browsing a few weeks ago and just fell in love with the colour, it’s gorgeous, a bit daring for me though I must say!

Urban Decay Naked 2 Palette - £36: My sister has this palette already so typically I’ve been getting my fair usage out of hers, but I think it’s time I got my own!

What products are you after this month?

Bourjois Cream Blush Review!

 

These new cream blushes from Bourjois have been on the shelves for roughly a month or so now and after a few weeks of usage, I’ve concluded that they are indeed an asset to this humble brand.  They are dinky little tubs of creamy cheek goodness, cute and compact, just how we like it. There have only been four colours released so far and I ended up choosing shades 04 – Sweet Cherry and 02 – Healthy Glow.

 

Basically these are super creamy blushes that go on with ease and are fairly pigmented meaning that you only need to apply the slightest amount. They are blendable and once you have the product built up to your needs, they really do give that noticeable touch to the whole face. My favourite from the two has to be the shade 02 in Healthy Glow. I genuinely thought this one would be chucked to the bottom of my stash after a couple of uses but I’ve had it on near enough every day! It is a gorgeous peachy coral that includes a very slight shimmer and it just screams summer. I love it! I bought shade 04 in Sweet Cherry because it’s a deepened pink shade and I love these sorts of shades, however it has kind of been cast aside due to the coral number stepping on its toes! The 04 holds much more of a matte finish, which suits the pink/brown hues in my opinion. These deep tones are my favourite shades of blush but I think Sweet Cherry will be more suited to when I’m on a night out in comparison to the day where the 02 comes in handy, enabling me to look a little more vibrant and a little less walking corpse. I apply these with my fingers, I have yet to even try a brush yet as they work so well and so quickly with my mere fingertips! They have a great airy and light consistency to them and feature that distinct Bourjois scent that I love on their products.  Overall they make for a great spring/summer budget buy.

Saving Your Skin...

This time of year is usually when I begin hammering the sunbeds, all in aid of achieving that bronzed body and complexion in time for my summer holiday. I would always feel slightly guilty about using them but it would never put me off, as I justified it by telling myself, “I don’t use them all year round” and “it’s only the same as sitting under the sun”, true but the UV rays of a sunbed are actually way more intense than that of the sun, upto ten times more so in some cases! So I’ve decided to ditch them and start looking after my skin the way I should.

Luckily I’m really lazy and going to the sunbed shop is actually a massive chore for me so that is one factor that’s encouraged me to bin the beds, but probably the most important one is how they might affect me in the future. I’m well aware that they dramatically increase the chances of skin cancer, and that is something that I no longer want to risk. One of my best friends has gone through so much with her Dad who’s currently fighting cancer and I just think, why would I want to purposely increase my chances when there is a possibility I could have children of my own one day, I would never want to have to put my family through all that when I could have simply avoided it in my younger years. It just isn’t worth it!

Another reason is that although we can’t deny sunbeds do make us look good, all sunkissed and that, it’s only short term. Within practically a week that tan has faded! Looking after my skin now will hopefully prevent premature aging and when I’m 50 I hope that I’ll be able to see the results of taking good care of my skin as a teen. I sometimes serve customers at work who are clearly heavy sunbed users, and although they may only be between 20-30 years old, you can see that the damage has been done. They may be bronzed but it doesn’t look good – they looked aged.

As for my steps to protecting and saving my skin, I decided that investing in a facial suncream would be a good idea. I bought the Bioderma Photoderm AKN Mat - Matifying Fluid in SPF30, the fact that it is a matte fluid enticed me as there is nothing worse than suncream that turns your face into a big white sticky mess (…eh?).  It goes on easily and blends in quickly and it doesn’t leave your face feeling greasy. I use this when I’m having a none foundation or no makeup day as even when the sun isn’t out (which is usually the case in Britain) you are still exposed to the harsh elements in the atmosphere and sunscreen protects against those. Of course many foundations on the market these days have contained SPF so I don’t tend to use this when I have foundation on, as the moisturiser I’m currently using also contains SPF (Estee Lauder DayWear Advanced Multi-Protection Anti-Oxidant Crème SPF 15). I’ve also been using an eye crème to help prevent against wrinkly eyes when I’m older! I got a sample bottle of Estee Lauders Advanced Night Repair Synchronized Eye Recovery Complex when I bought their foundation, and I’ve been applying this round my eyes AM and PM, so far I haven’t seen a drastic change in my dark circles, which it claims to get rid of as well as other things but in the long run it should reduce my chances of saggy baggy eyes when I’m over the hill!

 

 

Now I’m not saying that I’ll be cooped up in the shade when I’m on my Jolly’s, but I WILL be applying suncream generously and NOT frazzling my poor skin cells away! And as for sunbeds, I’m embracing being a Pale Gail more than ever!

What are your thoughts on tanning? Were you ever a sunbed junkie like me?

Estee Lauder Advanced Night Repair Eye Recovery LINK
Estee Lauder DayWear Crème LINK
Bioderma Photoderm Matifying Fluid LINK

Estee Lauder Double Wear Review!

 

Estee Lauders Double Wear is a foundation that I’ve heard so much about and so I recently got pampered at the EL counter and purchased it for myself. It’s a foundation that I held with high expectations, and I would say that it’s done a fairly good job at meeting them.

My first thoughts about Double Wear is how lightweight I find it on my face, I hate those foundations that feel as if they are weighing you down whilst making you want to get home and get a good cleanse on, but I can happily wear this all day without reaching for a face wipe. What I also love is that is keeps all my oils at bay! I can wear this for 8 hours at work and still manage to avoid an oily t-zone, which is a miracle in itself. Double Wear actually claims to stay put for 15 hours, which I haven’t actually put to the test yet. But for the 10-12 hours I have trailed over the past two weeks, I’ll have to give it to the guys at EL, it does last. One night I was even contemplating letting my foundation do a full force, round the clock job as when I got home from work my foundation looked so good I didn’t want to take it off and reapply it again for my night out! But I just couldn’t bring myself to do it. I digress however… what I’m trying to say is that I’ve found foundations on my skin can end up patchy and oily by the end of the day but Double Wear keeps that even, covered finish we all sought after.

Once on the skin this foundation gives a semi-matte finish but I haven’t found it to be drying which is what I usually find when it comes to matte/semi-matte foundations. The downsides to this foundation are that it claims to be medium to high coverage, but I personally would say it was leaning more towards the medium and I don’t find it to be quite enough for me. This foundation is buildable though and although it may look like I am having a five minute fight with a foundation brush each morning, I do eventually manage to hide away my ever returning spots and blemishes. A big turn off concerning this foundation is its very absurd way of draining you of life in pictures – especially with flash! I read somewhere before purchasing that it tends to create a white cast on camera and I didn’t think much of it, but it’s true, so for nights out this one definitely will no longer be making an appearance!

All in all I hoped this would be the foundation of all foundations, don’t get me wrong I do like the stuff and will continue to wear it, but it didn’t wow me like I expected, but for being at work and long days out when you need to be reassured that your foundation isn’t going to let you down, this is the one.

Cheap Cheap Cheap!

So I’d thought I’d tell you about this little site I’ve found (with thanks to one of my best friends, bethloux) called cheapsmells.com. It’s basically a site that sells off makeup, skincare and perfume at super cheap and affordable prices, or at least slightly discounted! It’s brilliant if you’re not looking for anything in particular and just fancy treating yourself. The only downside to this site is that the products it sells usually aren’t the most current, they are usually old or discontinued items that they sell off in bulk, so each week differs in the range of stock they do or don’t have on the site. I wouldn’t let this put you off however as what’s great is that it has loads of well-known brands such as Clinique, Estee Lauder, Urban Decay and so on, so pretty much anyone can find themselves a bargain!  I bought a few bits a couple of weeks back and got it all for the price of £36.82!

Urban Decay Loose Pigment Eyeshadow – Shag: £3.95

Urban Decay Deluxe Eyeshadow – Scratch: £7.97

Clinique Bottom Lash Mascara – Black: £11.00 (Current RRP Price)

Clinique Quickliner for Eyes – Moss: £10.95

Essie Nail Polish Full Size – Orange it’s Obvious: £2.95

 

It’s definitely worth checking out as there are some great skincare products and perfumes on there too! I bought 100ml of Paul Smith Rose Eau de Parfume a few weeks ago which I LOVE for only £23.95, which retails in the likes of Boots and Debenhams for roughly £55! Again their perfume range doesn’t feature the most current fragrances, they mainly stock older scents and those questionable celebrity smells but it’s definitely worth a snoop around!

What’s also great is that they offer free delivery too! It takes between 4-8 days to arrive so if you’re desperate for your goodies I would cough up the £2-£3 extra for the faster service! The delivery took exactly 8 days and I wasn’t too impressed with the speed of service BUT cheapsmells emailed me yesterday apologising for the wait and has given me a code for 10% off my next order! Friendly huh!

 Let me know what you think and if you found anything worth ordering!

 

XX

They're Real! Apparently...

They’re Real! from Benefit is a highly rated mascara pretty much all over the show, but personally, I don’t find it lives up to expectations. I had been “do I? don’t I?” over this product for so long but during my trip to NYC I took a walk into every American girls haven, Sephora and came across the baby sized must have! So for only $10 I took the chance! And I’m quite glad I didn’t splurge on the full size to be honest. For a start I hate these types of applicators, they never do anything for my lashes so the same goes for They’re Real. I was seriously expecting it to make my eyes look big and wide and span all my lashes out to give the false lash effect that the product suggests but it neither emphasises nor lengthens in my opinion. And as for the formula, I find it way too watery, I like mascaras to be less…liquidy if you will? It just doesn’t work well for me and as for its removal, it’s a bugger.

Overall I’m not a fan and can’t say I’ll be repurchasing, but it seems to me that this is just one of them products that you either love or hate!

XX

Say Hello to Paul & Joe

Ok so for ages I’ve been after new makeup bags and not quite found anything that’s up to what I want…until now. Luckily I stumbled across the French brand Paul & Joe whilst trawling the t’interweb and hey presto! I’ve found my babies. They came at a price however, as being a student you have to be choosey with what you do and don’t purchase! But I gave into temptation and coughed up £20.50 for the yellow cat cosmetic pouch and £26.00 for green floral binder makeup bag. Initially I was only meant to be treating myself to the one but I simply couldn’t decide, damn you Selfridges. The main reason why I love these so much is because of the many pockets and pouches they have within them, so if you’re like me and like everything to have its designated place then they make life that little bit easier, as everyone feels better knowing their mac lipsticks are sitting comfortably upright and together…don’t they? There’s even space to fit your brushes so that they don’t get squashed or damaged, now that’s thoughtful.

The only issue I had with these is that my expectations of how big they were going to be were totally off scale, silly me hadn’t read the dimensions before purchasing so I expected the yellow pouch especially to be much bigger than it actually was. I can’t find a ruler at present otherwise I’d tell you it’s actual size but all in all it isn’t very big… but saying that, it does manage to fit all that I want it to fit and I would say that it is perfect travelling buddy, either in your hand luggage or suitcase.

The makeup binder is probably my favourite, it’s like a book! That stores makeup! Amazing huh! I love the fact that you can remove the pouches, making this also a great travelling must have! It’s got brush holders too, but they could be used for anything, mascara, lipgloss, eyeliner? And of course I think the pattern is so pretty, my favourite pattern of the two by far.

 

 

I’m not sure if I think these two are quite worth the £46.50 I handed over (did I really pay that much?!) especially considering the size but I’m definitely going to get my use out of them! Paul & Joe do have such pretty products and I’m definitely going to be trying out more of what’s in their makeup range, although I do hope it’s worth their price tags!

XX
 

GlamShine Stain Splash!

 

 

I know these lippy’s have been out for some time now but I’ve not stopped wearing them since their purchase! They are the GlamShine Stain Splash’s by L’oreal and I think they’re fantastic. The shades I have are in Lolita and Princess, and Princess has definitely been worth its £7.99 price tag (bought on 3 for 2 at Boots!). The colour is almost a red but has a distinct tinge of orange to it and it is SO flattering. I’ve always been scared of red’s on the lips but this has well and truly busted that fear! Lolita on the otherhand was more of a disappointment, the colour appears to be a nude pink in the bottle but on the lips it is more of a sheer pinky red, so I would definitely recommend testing colours out before you buy! To get the desired colour you do have to apply between 2-3 coats as the formula is quite watery and light but this is what I love about them. They don’t feel heavy or gunky and they smell so good! Oh and I nearly forgot to mention, they stay on, nope these bad boys don’t move and you can eat/drink do whatever and you still don’t have to reapply! All hail L’oreal!

 

 

 

Lolita

 

 

Princess

 

 

Thanks for reading!

XX

 

First post...agh!

Well hello! I'm Hannah and this is the first time I've ever done anything remotely....'bloggy', but over the past six months I've really got into reading beauty guru blogs and watching online makeup tutorials so I thought I'd give it a go for myself (even if I am a little nervous!).

I've only recently got into the whole beauty and cosmetic side of being a girl, up until recently I never cared much for makeup, or appreciated how fantastic it is (crazy I know!) but now I'm slowly beginning to learn more about its application, what different things are used for and how to create different and alternative looks. I used to find applying it a chore (as I never really knew what I was doing!) and that's what would put me off ever experimenting or trying out new things. Currently my makeup collection isn't what I would call impressive or sizeable but I'm slowly trying to change that with new and interesting products that I come across. And this is where my blog will come in! I aim to review and share my opinions on the cosmetics I find, good, bad, cheap or high end and hopefully learn lots more about my new love for beauty along the way!

Oh and just to add a little about myself...I'm a student from Manchester currently in my first year studying English (perfect excuse for blog writing! Although confessing that means my English and grammar should be on top form!) I still live at home and have myself a part time job which means I'm probably not as poor as the average student... but I have had to scrimp recently! I love shopping (what girl doesn't) and I love materialistic overpriced girly tit tat, there is something in me that means I'm drawn to pretty shoes and bags that cost more than what I earn each month! Doesn't necessarily mean I get them though *sigh*...yup it's a hard life haha ;)

So now I've introduced myself and discussed my beauty related intentions I'll be on my way and be back soon with what I've come across!

Thanks for reading!
Han x

P.s I'm still trying to work my way round this blog site so excuse the poor presentation!