Review: Origins Zero Oil Moisturise Lotion

On one of my recent Origins splurges I picked up the Zero Oil moisture lotion as my skin is generally quite oily and I'm always trying to beat the shine.

However my skin being the fickle thing that it is decided to dry out so although I have started using it on my whole face, I now only use it on my T-zone as everywhere else needs a little more hydration.

First off as its oil free its a great moisturiser for those who want to beat the shine and it moisturises without leaving any excess on the skin and quite frankly it disappears!

It also leaves quite a nice base as it mattifies the skin too.

As you can see on the packaging it has Saw Palmetto and Mint which gives it a really nice clean smell and makes you believe that it won't be breaking you out, which it doesn't. 

I also love that its non pore blocking (non-comedogenic) and non-acnegenic so you're almost guaranteed to see great results if you purchase and use this moisturiser on your oily skin.

My skin on my t-zone definitely feel hydrated enough when I use this and I love that in the morning it gives you a matt effect which helps with oiliness for a good few hours for sure.

Unfortunately for me my skin has done a complete 360 on me at the moment and is currently in need of extra moisturisation which is totally unlike it so I've got myself a sample of the Make a Difference treatment (oil free though!) to see if it helps.

The ladies are always lovely on the Origins counters I've been to and are so helpful and always give out a sample of the product you are lusting after if you're not sure about buying it.

I always find it a pleasure to go back which is obviously what they want, but it never feels like they're trying to take your money which other counters should take note of!

I will be continuing to use this as I have for the past few weeks as it works perfectly on my T-zone and I have to admit that maybe my pores are even shrinking which would be an epic bonus!

Look out for tomorrows post with another of my Origins purchases which is a HG product for some people, including me!

Do you have a favourite Origins product? Have you bought any recently or are lusting after anything in particular?

I'm an Origins junkie for sure!

L xxx

And don't forget our giveaway, 1 week left to enter :)

NOTD Barielle Delicate Dancer

I originally posted about the box set this polish came from here

This beauty has been featuring on my nails recently when I can't decide which colour to go for, a nude is always the best option then!

It's called Delicate Dancer and true to the name is a very delicate colour.

I normally like a solid block of whatever colour I'm painting and whilst this polish is very thin, the effect is still really nice and natural.

I've never heard of Barielle before so had no idea if it was any good but I think for a collection of Bridal colours they hit the nail on the head.

This colour is most definitely similar to what I would choose to wear on my wedding day!

The colour did require a few coats but as each was thin it dried quickly and the coats were not streaky.

I will definitely be using this one up over the next few weeks when the weather can't decide what it is doing!

And it will look just as good on toes as it will on fingers.

What do you think of this Barielle nude colour? Are you a fan of peachy nudes or pinky nudes?

L xxx

Don't forget about our giveaway for a Selfridge's Beauty Box!

Review: Mac Studio Care Blend Pressed Powder

This is one of my favourite products to use and I don't know why I haven't posted about it before.

I buy lots of powders to keep my T-zone shine free during the day and for touch ups.

I've been through a lot of them, and some are ok, but nothing works like this beauty!

I use the Medium colour which shocked me, as I'm very pale and am usual an NW20 in foundations from Mac.

I think the Light colour would probably wash me out as it is the right colour, just didn't expect it!

As always I love the sleek black packaging. It makes them easy to throw in your bag, it just annoys me how easily they scratch and tarnish as I love how they look when they're shiny!

This comes with a mirror and sponge as you would expect so it really is perfect for touch ups on the go

It doesn't last me the entire day when I apply it in the morning, though I expect this is more likely to be down to the primer and foundation I use as I'm trying to use up other brands at the moment that aren't quite as reliable as Mac.

This powder is amazing in my opinion, though I would much rather it be at a lower price obviously!

It does hit pan quite quickly when you use it every morning and also for touch ups throughout the day and the £20 price tag for 10g is a little steep.

However you get what you pay for, and with Mac you always know where you are!

What powder do you use to keep your make up set for the day?

I have a few others that I might do a post on soon to try and encourage me to use them up!

L xxx

We're still running our giveaway for one of the Selfridge's Beauty Boxes that sold like hot cakes, find it here to enter!

Review: Clinique Superdefense SPF 25 Age Defense Moisturizer Combination Oily to Oily Skin and Super Rescue Antioxidant Night Moisturizer Combination Oily to Oily Skin

Hey all. 

Today I bring you my first indulge in expensive skincare. With skincare I like to use the products for a good month or two at least before reviewing. I'm now addicted to Clinique and here are my thoughts on some of it.

So a few months back now I decided it was time to try a more premium brand skin care for my day and night cream. I'm only 23 but I've always been told prevention is easier than cure. A motto I like to live by. So I decided to look for day and night creams, aimed specifically at oily skin types that will still help combat the first signs of ageing.

I hadn't looked at reviews of products online and decided to stroll into boots and see what counter hit my eye, the scientist in me was draw to Clinique with the white coats reminding me of lab coats and there clean looking display. As I walked up to the beauty counter it was one of those days I need a lot of help and advise and a good chat with an assistant. Unfortunately she decided to ignore me. Nice eh? When you need them they don't bother. I decided to try House of Fraser as by this point I was set on Clinique. As I strolled in she finished serving and then had a chat with me about what I was hoping to get from my skincare and what my problems were and the main ones I wanted to target.

Nice free gift bag

 My free gifts. How generous are Clinique!! Lots for me to test out 

 One of the things I loved the most about Clinique is you can buy most of their products for different skincare. I was told I was a 3 and could use products aimed at 3 or 4. I was recommended the superdefense SPF 25 age defense moisturiser for combination oily to oily skin. It comes with a slightly eye watering price tag of £37. But as L once said to me if you'll spend it on a dress or bag why not on skincare. So I splurge and as they were offering a bag of goodies if you bought two items I picked up the night cream to which is the super rescue antioxidant night moisturiser again for combination oily to oily which is £35.

Both products are paraben free, allergy tested and 100% fragrance free. Great for if your skin is a little more sensitive. Something both L and I try to look out for. The day cream is gorgeous. A light product that just sinks into your skin and leaves it well moisturised without feeling greasy or tight. I find some products for oily skin leaves my skin feeling so tight it's uncomfortable. For the price you get a reasonable 50ml. I've been using mine most days now for 3 months and I'm probably 2/3 through the pot. I try to use only what's needed and make this product last. It also contains a healthy SPF 25 so great for protecting the skin from the sun and hopefully preventing even more wrinkles.

As you can see it's a good consistency and blends into the skin without leaving a greasy residue. I've been so impressed with this product. I've had no product related breakouts. Which is always a worry with my skin type and my skin is left feeling moisturised and healthy.

I love the night cream just as much. These two work together so well and I'm so pleased I splurged out on them. They are so worth it. This is again 50ml but I feel I'm using it quicker. One thing I don't like about the night cream is that it's in a tube. I prefer a pot so I can get out just the amount I need easily and I can see how much I have left. I feel like this may run out before the day cream which will bug me as I like them to run out at the same time. 

The night cream is a slightly thicker consistency but still sinks into the skin well without leaving the skin feeling oily or coated in product. I can't say how well they work on wrinkles really as the few fine lines I have do appear a little reduced but I'm hoping this will more be protecting my skin against further.

Even though these products are more than I would normally spend on day and night creams I'm completely converted and would repurchase without a doubt. They have lasted a while so isn't as expensive as it first seems.

I would wait to repurchase till there are good freebies though as Clinique are generous with their free gifts and you get a lot of products to try. I especially loved the eye cream and the serum I got in the free gifts and I am considering purchases those along with a foundation. I've heard so many great things about Clinique lately I can't wait to try more products.

The lady in House of Fraser was lovely and as I had a delay at the till was kind enough to give me all these samples along with my free gift.

Successful first trip to Clinique I think. I'm still working my way through the samples and I'm loving some and will purchase some not so much like the eye make up remover. You can find my thoughts on that here.

Have you tried Clinique products? Any recommendations?

Love M

Don't forget our giveaway. Some great skincare products in there! 

NOTD: Rimmel Sky High and Max Factor Fantasy Fire

Hey all

A nail of the day to show you today. Ever since I picked up Max Factors Fantasy Fire I've loved it's duochrome finish what I didn't love was how many coats it took to achieve the desired look. I've tried using it as a top coat over various shades of nail varnish and have loved the look on most. 

I love how it looks different in different lights. I tried it over Rimmel 60 seconds polish in the shade sky high. This isn't a colour I use much and not even sure when I bought. I used two coats of this.

The finish is ok but if I wasn't using Fantasy Fire it would definitely need three coats. I love using Fantasy Fire over a bright purple so I was interested to see how it would look over blue.

One coat looked like this, a slight purple and turquoise hint to blue. I decided it definitely needed two coats.

Pre clean up (I'm a messy little painter ;)) I love this colour. Every time I looked at my nails I just thought of under the sea/ mermaids. It looks so pretty and shimmers so many different colours.

With flash you can really see a royal blue through it and a gold fleck.

I love the colour this turned out and I'm thinking of trying it over a pink shade soon.

Do you have fantasy fire? Do you layer sheer polishes over different shades?

Love M

xxx

Don't forget our giveaway found here, we are so excited we keep talking about it lots.

Oops I went shopping again!

Today I had to pop into Primark to get my gorgeous little niece's birthday present. (she know has her first pair of black skinny jeans, wardrobe staple) I love the clothes for little girls in Primark it's cute on trend and her mum tells me it's good for wear too! Her first pair of skinny jeans I got her lasted her 18 months!! She's so girly already I love it. At 3 she's obsessed with nail varnish and I've just got her children's nail varnish (rumour is it comes out of carpet).

Enough of my blabbing on about her. (I'd share a photo but her mum doesn't want photos of her online so you'll have to trust me that she's cute!! ha). Primark is usually hit and miss for me. I usually only find one thing lately and I'll put it back down to the long queues. Today I went first thing to avoid these. If you saw my August wishlist post you'd have seen I was eyeing up lots of gorgeous Kurt Geiger shoes ready for my holiday. When I saw the flip flops all half price in Primark I thought I should save myself some money and pick these up.

I love the jelly type material one these shoes. I have some French Connection ones similar to these that I literally wear all the time so I'm hoping these will be as comfy. Plus I adore the gorgeous bow detail and charms and for £2 who could resist. I wish they'd had the black in my size!

I've been wanting dolly shoes like this since seeing the Vivienne Westwood collabortion with Melissa for the AW09 collection and seeing the gorgeous leopard print ultragirl bow flat (I'm desperate for a pair of these). I love how simple they are and I'm hoping they will be super comfy. Another bargain £2. I really want these in a coral colour.

 This is the last pair of shoes I bought today and the most expensive. I splashed out an extra pound on these!! For £3 I thought they would be great for in the sun perfect with dress for day wear and the bow detail will make them pretty enough for evenings. I'm going away with my other half and as he's the same height as me heels are a no so I try to find pretty flats with sparkly detail and these fit the bill. I tend to favour this type of flip flop at the moment and recently realised I know have no traditional flip flops!

I was looking for a black strapless top but couldn't see them in Primark (if you know where to get cheap plain tight ones please let me know) but couldn't resist picking these up. Vests are a staple and you can never have too many. I tend to favour my select ones I bought a few years back but they have since changed the style so I'm back to trying to find my perfect vest. At £2 each I picked them up in the colours I wear the most.

Since picking up my sunglasses in last weeks haul I've been looking for a case. I wasn't prepared to spend £8 on the ones in Topshop. Now this print isn't great but for £1 my sunglasses won't get scratched in my handbag and it's big enough to fit most styles in.

I couldn't resist these at the till for £1 I thought they were worth a try and after biting all my nails a few weeks ago looking at my nails is bothering me. I was surprised when I got home to find they came with glue. I didn't expect much from it but it works just aswell as the elegant touch ones I'm used to.

I love false nails and used to wear them a lot before growing my natural ones. I love how quick and easy you can have a perfect mani for days. This pattern is so cute and they had a great variety of styles. My only complaint is the nails are a little large for my fingers. I have the smallest ones on and could have done with smaller. I would definitely re purchase though. If you like false nails give these a try.

Then as it was raining I thought the best thing to do would be stroll through boots to escape the rain (What was I thinking) I should have got wet I can never resist buying in boots. I like using these Lee Stafford products honestly I don't know if they work but my hair is a bit longer now and I've just had it highlighted and they are great for conditioning. I only pick them up when they are on offer as they are £7.99 a pot but are currently on £3 for £12

As it was the mega points event and you need to spend £15 to get 10 points to the £1 I picked up a mini shampoo and conditioner for my holiday. I usually use John Frieda when I have blonde hair but they didn't have the one I wanted in the minis so I'm hoping these Trevor Sorbie ones will be good. They were £1.99 each and had 75ml in compared to the other brands having 50ml.

So that's all I bought today. Now I really need willpower to stop shopping!!

Have you picked up any bits in the last of the sales?

Love M

xxx

Selfridge's Box Part 1

I'm sure you're probably sick to death of hearing about the Selfridge's Beauty Box, especially if you didn't get one so apologies for that.

But we are doing a giveaway for one (woohoo!) and so we decided to do a more in depth post on our halves with mine being up today and M's being put up next Sunday.

I was super excited to try out the Stila One Step Correct Serum, the Philip B Katira hair mask and the Antipodes Avocado and Rosehip Divine Face Oil so that's what i chose from the box and M will be covering the other three items next week.

(We split a box between us, you can find more details on the giveaway page here)

First up is the Antipodes Organic Avocado and Rosehip Divine Face Oil all the way from New Zealand.

Antipodes are a brand that I'm really interested in because their skin care range uses only bioactive botanical ingredients, many of which are organic, and also have a strong ethical value.

Also I love that they have loads of scientific information on their website, I've fallen in love with a brand again!

The website states:

Scientifically shown to stimulate Type I collagen in human skin fibroblast cells by up to 51%*.

Give a lift to tired, stressed and sun-damaged skin with this nutrient-rich, certified organic face oil that helps to deliver essential nourishment for fresh, healthy skin. The superior collagen boosting action of avocado oil helps reduce the appearance of lines and age spots, while added rosehip helps avocado oil target scars and wrinkles.

Interesting!

Also how much do you love the bottle??

I love old style medicine bottles including these dropper style ones.

I mean obviously you'd have to use this for a few weeks to notice a big change and to give it time to work its magic....but I've been struggling big time with my skin recently.

I've been breaking out left right and centre and every spot seems to leave a really bright red scar that doesn't heal. Initially I was worried about using an oil on my face as my skin has always had issues with oil.

It's early days as I've only been using it since Wednesday but I am 100% sure that the scars have started fading which was not happening at all before.

I'm hoping over the next few weeks it will improve even more and hopefully will turn into the wonder product I've been waiting for!

I've tried every other product you can think of so here's hoping.

Next up is the Philip B Katira Hair Mask which I used this morning.

I've also been having a few issues with my hair being very dry considering I don't heat style it and have been taking good care of it.

First off I love the packaging as I love simple and anything talking about 'Magic' sounds good to me!

The website states:

PRODUCT DETAILS

A gentle yet surprisingly versatile rejuvenator for all hair types.

The unique, clear-gel formula sinks right in to plump up fine, limp strands or calm and smooth coarse, hard-to-manage hair.

HOW IT WORKS:

Pure Katira Extract – the "it" conditioner of the Middle East – fills in weak, damaged spots in the hair cuticle for added smoothness and strength. It also gives your hair a slight electrical charge – you’ll feel it during your blowout – that leaves it fantastically light and bouncy.

A high-tech L-Amino Acid Complex infuses your hair with a perfect dose of weightless, oil-free moisture and nourishing proteins for enhanced control and elasticity. Just one application will instantly revitalize your hair color, speed up blow-drying time, and lock in shine for a sexy, touchable, red-carpet finish.

It's also paraben and pthalate free (woo!)

I quite liked the consistency of this but it was quite thick and I can imagine needing a lot of it.

It says on the back about mixing it in with their conditioner, so I mixed it in with my current conditioner and applied it, leaving it for as long as I could (probably around 5/10 minutes).

My hair definitely feels in better condition though I can't agree that it took less drying time as I didn't feel there was any difference.

I was impressed to see that my hair doesn't feel heavy at all however so I will definitely be using this a few times this week with the hope of improving the condition over time but so far it's doing the job!

Last but definitely not least is the Stila One Step Color Correct Serum.

I didn't own any Stila products until a few conveniently found there way into poundland!

But I have ALWAYS lusted after this product.

Everyone can see how cool it looks but for me, being obsessed with science as I'm a complete geek this is the ultimate in make up.

It looks like a beautiful DNA helix or something which is just amazing (I'm going to stop waffling on don't worry!)

This is all written on the box but straight from their website:

The revolutionary new product contains 3 colour-correcting brighteners: 

• Green tone instantly neutralizes redness and conceals blemishes 
• Lavender tone counteracts sallow undertones for a vibrant, energised look 
• Peach tone brightens, illuminates and helps diminish the appearance of sun spots

Sooooo pretty!

Here's a few hand shots, not the most convenient but I don't have a working tripod or someone to take photos of my face where I don't look a bit silly! Plus my skin is awful!

The left is before, and on the right you can see how all three colours come out in each pump (the peach is slightly hidden underneath)

Then on the left the colour blend together SO easily and pretty much melt into your skin leaving a really nice finish, not shiny at all but the area looks really moisturised and even.

I can't wait until my skin is better and I can just apply this to my skin as I can imagine it looking great and makes everything so much easier in the mornings!

What do you think of the products? My current favourite has to be the Antipodes face oil, as it's a god send if it continues to get rid of my scars as nothing else I've tried has worked.

However I can imagine the Stila taking over if my skin clears up :)

If you would like to win these products and the other 3 also in the box, you can enter the giveaway here.

It's always worth a try and you can tweet each day for more entries!

L xxx