LUSH Hottie Massage Bar!

Hello ♥

So i've been pretty ill recently dying of a sickness bug and as i've been getting better i have been craving a pampering session! Meaning that my boyfriend will be blackmailed kindly talked into giving me a back massage! I want to use my massage bar that i got a while ago from LUSH and so what better a time than now to soothe my stiff muscles after being ill!

Described on LUSH website:

"Hottie is designed to get to grips with areas of the body that have been overworked and are in shock. The blend of warming oils bring warmth and comfort to the area - using ginger oil and black pepper oil to stimulate the blood flow."

(image from lush.co.uk - my bar has been used, therefore looks nowhere near as pretty as this!)

First impressions of this bar, were that i hated the smell. However, it actually grew on me a bit! I'm not sure what i hated about it to begin with, i think that it has a slightly peppery smell, not sure, it just takes a while to get used to!

The bar melts a little on contact with warm skin which makes the bar sort of slippery but it leaves an buttery residue on the skin. It feels lovely while being massaged and it is really relaxing due to the raised bumps on the bar. It has a slight warming sensation but not overly so and it feels really soothing and relaxing.

Overall, this massage bar is really great! It's only down points i would say really were the initial smell, although i don't actually mind it now, and also, i would say that the butteriness it leaves on your body seems to stay wet for quite a while, i felt as thought i just wanted to go in the shower to wash it off.

It is relaxing and lovely if used just before you are going to bed or not having to put on a top and go anywhere straight after!

I want to try other massage products so if you have any recommendations let me know!

You can purchase your own Hottie HERE for £5.75 a bar!

Have you tried any LUSH massage bars?

A♥

Maybelline's Fit Me - First Thoughts!

Hello ♥

So i said on twitter that i was waiting for a sample of the Maybelline 'Fit Me' foundation but it hadn't come! I was in desperate need of a new foundation though so i decided to go out and get it anyway!

The shade i ended up with was 130 in the foundation. I would now say, after trying it on my face for a few days, that the lighter yellow based colour in 120 might have been a better match for myself! I will still be able to use the 130 though, it's just a slightly darker tone than my skin but is unnoticeable really (except to my perfectionist brain)!

The formula of the foundation is described by Maybelline as 'our first gel foundation made with no waxes and fillers'. They have a concealer shade and a powder shade to match every foundation, a 'customised make-up system'.

I think the idea of having matching shades etc is a really good one as although you can go get the shades you want, if you are like me you often end up with a concealer too dark for your foundation from two different brands etc! But maybelline's match system makes this a lot easier and makes for much more even base coverage.

I love the consistency of the foundation, it is quite thin but not too much so, therefore it is easy to blend into your skin and gives good coverage without using too much product.

The concealer is the same really, it is pretty much the same shade as the foundation, a little thicker in consistency but still quite thin for a concealer, it's really easy to blend away red marks or dark circles.

 The powder is slightly lighter and it gives really good coverage. I would say however, that i am not in love with the applicator this comes with and i much prefer to use my powder brush!

I have been wearing the full combination for the past few days and so far, my makeup has lasted all day and i have needed no real touch-ups!

Overall, i really do like the fit me range by Maybelline and am interested to see how long the products last me.  I am enjoying using the products for now however, i do think the consistency might just be slightly too thin? I will see how i get on using them a bit more! If i do buy the range again, i think i might go for a slightly lighter shade too! Generally, i am really liking the collection so far!

Have you tried the fit me range?
What are your opinions on it?
A ♥

Drugstore Face of the Day!

Hello ♥

I was going to my friends flat to hang out with the girls for a while the other night and thought i would do my face using cheap(ish) products and not use any high-end brands on my whole face just for fun really.

I do use all of these products anyway but i just thought i would use them all together and this is what i came up with:

I look asleep...

Products:

So on my face i have:

Rimmel Wake Me Up foundation: 100 Ivory

Collection 2000 Lasting Perfection Pressed Powder: 2 Medium

Collection 2000 Lasting Perfection Concealer: 2 Light

ELF Complexion Perfection Tone Correction Pressed Powder: Translucent

Bourjois Bronzing Powder: 52

Barbra Daily Blusher: Flutter-Bies

MUA Undressed Palette: Shade 5- base, 4- outter corners, 11- crease, 1- highlight/browbone

ELF Eye Transformer: Upper Browbone

ELF Eye Brightener: Inner corners

Collection 2000 Skylash: Black

ELF Exact Lash Mascara: Black

Collection 2000 Liquid Liner: Black

Collection 2000 Pencil Liner: Black on bottom water line

GOSH Eyebrow Kit: Darkest Shade & Setting Gel

VIVO Eyebrow Pencil: Dark Brown (literally the best eyebrow pencil..ever! £2!)

Rimmel Kate Moss Matte Lipstick: 107

MUA Lip Liner: Brooding Plum

I think it went quite well really ...

(except my camera makes me look paler than i actually am!)

Hope you enjoyed!

What are your favourite drugstore makeup products/brands?

A♥

Fashion Vouchers Christmas Party Outfit Bloggers Challenge!

Hello ♥

In celebration of the start of the festive season, fashionvouchers.com are hosting a bloggers challenge to come up with a Christmas party outfit from one of their retailers costing less than £100! The best entry will win £100 in vouchers to spend on anything from the retailer they picked their outfit from!

I thought this was a great idea and i love taking part in this kind of thing so, here is my entry!

I chose Boohoo.com as my retailer as they have some really pretty party season items at really low costs therefore i thought this would be one of the best to get a really nice outfit for under £100:

Fayanna Stud Bodice Mesh High Split Bodysuit Dress £30

Olivia Black Peep-toe All Over Stud Heel £35

Gina Stud + Sparkle Clutch £15

Aya Triple Stud Ring £6

TOTAL: £86!

So i still have a bit more left to spend however I think this outfit is just lovely the way it is that the rest of the £100 can be spent on drinks for your Chrsitmas night out ;).

This dress is on my own wishlist right now, they are so on trend and just really beautiful in my opinion. You all know i love studs, which are also a key trend for A/W fashion, so to match the gold stud detailing on the dress i picked a gold studded clutch bag, gold spiked ring and a lovely pair of black spiked peep-toe heels, which i think go amazingly with this dress.

Would you wear this for your Christmas night out?

Are you going to be taking part in Fashion Vouchers challenge? You can get all the entry details you need by clicking this link - fashion vouchers challenge.

Hope you like!

A ♥

Nail Diaries #3

Hello ♥

Time for another Nail Diary. This is what i have on my nails this week:

Cupcakes!

I'm hating the wintery weather so these make me feel like comfort food happiness without the calories! I actually do this design quite a lot in different colours, i love it.

So basically, to keep this post short and not let it turn into a mad ramble like the majority of my posts, this is how i created this:

Firstly, i painted the tip of my nail using a light pink shade.

Then, using nail art pens, which you can get pretty much anywhere now but the ones i used you can get by clicking here. I used a darker pink and drew lines over the now dried light pink to create the cupcake case.

I then used the white nail art pen to draw an outline of where i wanted my cake to go to and filled that in. I also drew it over the side of the cupcake case to make it look realistic and not just a straight line.

Wait for this to dry then simply use a selection of different coloured nail pens to create dots for the 'sprinkles'.

I added a little gem stone on the top of my cupcakes while the white polish was still a but tacky but they look fine without too!

Then wait for that all to dry and use your favourite top coat to stop any chipping etc!

Done!

Hope you enjoyed this and i managed to keep it short and simple!

Would you try this out on your nails?

A ♥

Little Makeup Tips #1

Hello ♥

I'm going to start a little series like my Nail Diaries but on Make-up Tips where i will post little handy tips every so often to hopefully help at least one person out!

Today's is a really simple one and a lot of you probably know it already but this is my savior!

When applying mascara, no matter what one i use, i always seem to get it under my eye:

As you can see, it is all under my eyelid and this annoys me no end! 

Such a mess!

So to get rid of this, i used to just use my finger and i would smudge it everywhere and feel as though i should start my whole face again!

Now however, i wait until the mascara is all completely dry and when it is i get a cotton bud and gently roll this back and forward under my eyelid to wipe and remove the excess mascara! 

You don't need any water or anything on it, just the bud itself effectively removes the mess!

Rub gently until all of the mascara is gone!

Much cleaner and no smudging! There are other ways of getting rid of excess mascara, like using a baby wipe, but at least this way, you don't rub off any of your other makeup :).

This also works if you get mascara on your brow bone just under your eye-brow when doing your top lashes, like i usually also do!

Hope my eye close-ups aren't too gross, haha!

(as well as my stray eyebrow hairs as i'm growing them to thread, sigh..)

Hope you try this quick tip if you didn't know it already! Maybe you're just not as messy as me!

What are your little handy makeup tips?

A ♥

Simple Outfit of the Day!

Hello ♥

Today, i am once again, doing nothing really exciting, maybe just heading to the bank to deposit some money and have a little look around town, so i'm going to show you my outfit!

I have gotten used to the fact that Scotland's lighting situation hates me, there was also no one here to take photos for me and my tripod is useless so i had to take them myself, therefore, excuse the crap quality!

(not the best angle really...)

Top: Matalan £12  - Here

Jeans: Topshop - Similar Here

I love this top it's really pretty with the lace shoulders and i think it really dresses it up a bit:

It comes in black, burgundy  white and blue of which i actually want to buy all of them. It's such a comfy, pretty top! I only ended up with the black because it goes with anything.

And the Jeans from Topshop are really comfy and easy to wear, I have jeans in so many colours all of which pretty much go with this top but i've just put on my plain old blue ones with it today!

This picture also shows the flare of the peplum top!

To layer this outfit for going outside i just threw on my military style jacket.

Love this jacket so much! It's so flattering with hook and eye fastening and lovely military style sewn on buttons. It flares at at bottom and has a nice collar making it a bit more formal. It is by far one of my favourite jackets ever! 

I have had this one for ages but since the style has come back in this season i have seen similar in Primark and ASDA which i can't seem to find online but i have seen them in store if you're after one.

So that's my outfit!

Hope you enjoyed!

Do you like this kind of post?

Do you have a favourite jacket, what's it like?

A ♥

Poundland Purchases!

Hello ♥

So i don't know about any of you guys but i really love to have a look in Poundland. It often has little bits and bobs that are well worth picking up as they are much more expensive everywhere else! 

So, while i was in town the other day i decided to pop in and have a little look. I resisted buying loads and loads of stuff but i did pick up a few thing which i'll share with you guys!

On this trip i picked up all of the above for £1 each. 

The first thing is a gold dazzle eye-dust by colour addict called 'Gold Digger'. 

It is a beautiful colour, i've been looking for a gold eye product for ages so i thought it would give this one a go. The only downfall of this i think, is that it is a really loose powder and litterally gets everywhere, so i'd advise wearing pjammas or something while you're applying and do your eyes before you finish off your face!

This is just one swipe of it across my hand and although you can't see quite how shimmery it is it does show how pretty and quite subtle the colour is just using a little product.

I also picked up two nail polishes, the first one is this in 'Ariel' from Chit Chat.

This polish looks really really lovely in the bottle, however, on the nail it is actually a bit of a let down and is really just a blue-glitter top coat! I was a bit disappointed with this to be fair as i thought it would be a bit more coverage and it also takes ages to dry and smells really strong!

With just one coat (ignore the chipped gold underneath!) 

Two coats.

I do actually think this polish would be really nice with a blue base colour or a green or something rather than just on my natural nail but i still don't absolutely love it. At least i don't feel like i wasted loads of money on it!

I also got this one by Revlon Matte Suede in 507 'Fire Fox':

I really like the colour, its a sort of shimmery red with tiny tiny bits of glitter in it. It does dry matte which i'm loving just now:

(excusing my quick mess!)

This picture doesn't really show how matte it dries as this had to be taken with my camera flash on! I love anything matte just now from lipsticks to nail polishes so i love the finish of this! If you didn't want it to be matte however you could always shove a shiny top-coat over it. It's a lovely colour, i love the finish and it dries quite fast!

Then, i bought one more eye product from Rimmel London:

This is the Rimmel Eyeful Glistening Eye Crayon in shade 100 'Girls Only'. It's a really sheer pink shiny colour and looks lovely on the eyes.

Pretty pretty, i've been wearing this with a light browny colour blended to the corners and the crease of my eye and it looks really subtle and nice! It's quite creamy so i would advise using an eye primer before applying to stop it creasing throughout the day.

Annnnd that's all i picked up in Poundland this time!

Would you be interested in seeing future Poundland purchases?

Do you look in there sometimes for a bargain?

A ♥

Collective Basics Beauty & Fashion Haul!

Hello ♥

Thought i would share a few basic beauty bits and pieces i've picked up recently and a few fashion bits (more peplum lovin'♥, i don't think i'll ever get over them!)

So firstly, i'm going out this weekend which was a bit of a last minute plan so i had to pop to town and pick up a few 'night out' essentials:

Tights/St Ives Scrub/Primark Lashes/Knee Highs/Self Tan Polish Sponge/St Moriz tan/Baby wipes/Hairspray

I needed most of these things for my night out, other than the knee highs which i just like to wear under jeans with dolly shoes etc! As well as the baby wipes, which i love for taking my makeup off every day! I needed a new exfoliant i and i love love st ives so i just picked it up in prep for a quick tan before the weekend!

As well as quickly popping to town to collect these bits and pieces i have also been buying clothes and clothes and more clothes recently, even though i'm sooo skint! But i thought i would show you all what i've been getting anyway. I'm still on the hunt for a perfect new faux-leather jacket but still no luck, suggestions?

Anyway, here's my fashion haul!:

Safari Jacket with Leather Sleeves - Primark £25.

I love this jacket, wanted the Zara version but it sold out and my budget wouldn't stretch that far! I switch up my jackets nearly every day anyway so this price tag made me extremely happy!

Polka-Dot Dress £11(i think!) - Primark.

The picture is making this look a little more red than it actually is as its really a sort of berry colour. Regardless, it's lovely, and i wear it a lot with my primark studded heel ankle boots and leather jacket or blazer.

Plain Black Peplum Vest - Primark £4.

Bargain basic top, fulfills my love of peplums and is easy to dress up and down! Not best quality ever, but it was under a fiver so, what is to be expected?

Charcoal Jacket - Primark £18.

Love this jacket, love the colour and the fit. Cheaper than most winter jackets currently! Can't really go wrong with a grey coloured jacket can you? The collar is nice and the hood is detachable so it's versatile and comfortable, win win!

Sequin top £9.99 - H&M.

I wish this was showing how nice this top actually is. The sequins are multi-coloured and just really lovely. Looks lovely with jeans and dresses a casual outfit up a bit!

Polka-Dot Shirt £14.99 - H&M

This again isn't showing how nice this shirt actually is! It is sort of cropped at the front and longer at the back with a dipped hem. It looks lovely on so i will feature it in a OOTD sometime so you can see how much nicer it is in person if you haven't seen it in h&m already.

Red Long Sleeve Lace Peplum £12.99 - H&M

Yes, another peplum, i know i'm obessed but, i can't stop. I have had this for a little while now but i love it, it looks great with a skirt or jeans, disco pants, leggings - anything. Can be dressed up pr down and is just generally lovely. Comes in black and white also i believe?

Floral Sheer Swing Shirt £9.99 - TKMAXX

Florals are sort of summery but i love the Autumny colours of this top and i've been wearing it with my black disco pants and a leather jacket which looks really nice. I've also been layering it with my plain black scarf and thick black cardigans so it's really versatile and just lovely!

Lace Back Peplum Dress £27.99 - New Look.

Wore this to my graduation as although the pictures don't make it obvious, this comes to just above the knee rather than my usual mini-dresses! It is textured, has side peplums and a lace panel on the back. Love it.

Peplum Top with Lace Shoulder £12 - Matalan.

Love this, it looks lovely on, the lace detail on the shoulder makes it dressy and less casual and the peplum not too accentuated. 

Peplum top £12 - Matalan.

As usual, my crap photography skills are not showing this up to be the winey purpley colour that it actually is, but, it is more wine coloured. It's more of a structured, flared peplum than the black lace on above but is really nice with jeans or disco pants! Also comes in loads of different colours worth having a look at!

And this dress i just got delivered today to wear on Saturday night and i absolutely love it!

Red Peplum Dress £18 - Matalan.com

Can't wait to wear this out, i promise i will post a picture on here of me wearing it so you can see how lovely it is on and not just hanging on a hanger!

As you can see it is a really bright red colour! I love it so much, just trying to decide what shoes i should wear with it now!

I think Matalan also do this in blue, leopard print and white so deffo check those out if you like peplum dresses!

So that's all i've really been buying lately! Once again i apologise over and over for the crappy quality of my pictures, getting good lighting is really hard as i usually blog as night and currently that is a real nightmare!

However, hope you enjoyed some bits of this post and liked some of my buys!

What are you upto this weekend?

A ♥