Dirty Martini Cocktail Masterclass

Hey All

Last week we were invited to a cocktail masterclass as Dirty Martini. Of course we said yes, we were both gutted to have missed opening night and couldn't wait to try it out. If you've followed us from the early days you'll know we are big cocktails fans (the blog used to be cosmetics, shopping and intoxication) and used to post recipes to our favourite cocktails weekly.

Boux Avenue Haul

Hey All

I definitely don't buy new bras as often as I should. When La Senza closed down I've tried different shops but not found one's I liked enough to go back and re buy. When I was feeling spendy the other day I decided to pop into Boux Avenue, L is a big fan so I decided it was about time I gave it ago.

They had an offer one where if you bought the bra you got free matching pants. I love buying sets but always find the knickers seem really expensive so when I saw the offer I was sold. I went to be measured as I've not been for ages. I have actually been wearing the wrong size...ooops. The lady doing it was great and picked out different styles and sizes to try to find what I was comfortable in.

I ended up picking up two styles. I went for light colours as I really needed a new white bra and the floral print was too pretty not to pick up.

I ended up going for the Chloe Lace Balconette Bra. I never used to choose a balconette style but I really like the shape this gives me and it's so comfortable. I'm surprised how much my tastes have change. The matching knickers are soooo comfy too plus they look good. 

The floral print bra is a boost bar so enhances cup size. I always favoured these bras a few years ago and love the shape it gives me but not sure if now it makes my boobs look too big. It's comfortable but I probably wouldn't buy this style again unless my boobs shrink a bit again. It's currently on offer as well for cheaper than I paid but lets not mention that! 

Boux Avenue has won me over and I'm already eyeing up my next buys. The Anoushka bra is next on my list!!

Where do you find best for bras?

Love M

xxx

Living Nature Lipstick in Wild Fire

Morning all!

A few weeks ago we were sent some lipsticks from Living Nature, so I chose the lipstick called Wild Fire.

Living Nature are a company from New Zealand who produce products that do not contain any synthetic compounds including parabens and only use beeswax and honey from animal derived products. In fact the list of products that aren't in any of their cosmetics is pretty impressive! In fact, here's the list so you can see yourself:

No Synthetic Preservatives, No potentially harmful chemicals, No Mineral Oils, No Herbicide or Pesticide Residues, No GM ingredients, No Animal Ingredients or testing, Only Use Recyclable, Reusable Packaging. The Living Nature preservative system is a synergy of potent plant extracts which are strong antioxidants, bactericides and fungicides. Living Nature aims to create a sustainable, profitable, ecological, educational and inspirational business that impacts on the individual by promoting healthy skin. 

All sounds wonderfully promising don't you think??

In addition to this, the lipsticks in particular have a 100% natural formula containing beeswax, certified by BDIH and produced in recyclable plastic tube. They are not tested on animals either which is always a great bonus, there really isn't any excuse any longer for animals to be tortured for humans to wear make up.

The packaging is black and rubbery on the outside, hopefully this means it is a little more hard wearing than other black plastic packaging we are all familiar with. It feels a lot sturdier and has a satisfying click so you can be sure the lid isn't going to fall of these - which you would think is an odd point to make but I've lost a few lipsticks to my hairbrush and keys recently and I refuse to lose any more!

Wild Fire is described as a semi-matte red with an orange undertone, it is a very wearable lipstick. The colour is quite sheer so it is more like a stain or a tinted lip balm than a traditional 'lipstick' but I really like it.

It's very comfortable to wear which is a welcome change from many of the matte lipsticks and liquid lipsticks that are available now that I can find are very drying.

My lips are quite small and I always prefer a lip product with a cream or glossy finish to give the appearance of more volume so the semi-matte finish is a perfect compromise for every day wear.

The lipstick colour doesn't last all day with eating etc but to be honest it is so easy to reapply owing to the sheer finish that it isn't a problem.

The range of lipsticks from Living Nature contains twelve colours altogether and a lip hydrator. Botanical Brands (the sole distributor in the U.K. for Living Nature) carries all 12 of these which is great! You can find them at www.botanicalbrands.com 

The lipsticks cost £19.50 each which is perfectly reasonable for a lipstick with minimal chemicals and no animal testing in sight!


Have you heard of Living Nature before? Have you tried out some of their lipsticks?


They have a huge range of skincare too, some of their serums, oils and masks sound wonderful and I've spotted some gift sets that would be great on a Christmas list!

L xxx

Pestle and Mortar Skincare Deals

Hey all

When we were contacted to see if we fancied trying some Pestle and Mortar skincare items we of course said yes. We have both taken care of our skin with full skincare routines started from our early 20s in the hope prevention is better than cure.

We couldn't wait to get out hands on the Pestle and Mortar products as not only are they cruelty free (a must for me now), they are suitable for all skin types, both of our skin needs seem to be changing so a product suitable for all is great, they also free from parabens, mineral oil, silcones, sulphates and propylene. When we first started the blog we wrote about parabens, sulphates and silcones in products and what it means, you can find these posts here.

Pestle and Mortar is an Irish beauty brand that have a great range of skincare products all in gorgeous packaging. I love the simplicity of the packaging and the monochrome it looks great on my bedside table.

We were lucky enough to be sent the Hyaluronic Serum. I'm so excited to give this a proper try. L has tried the alpha h liquid gold before which contain hyaluronic acid so was excited to try this to see how it compares.

The serum is formulated from the salt of hyaluronic acid. This is a smaller molecule and is said to be even more penetrative than hylauronic acid. I can't wait to give this a proper trial and see the results. As I'm getting older even though I have oily skin I'm still finding my skin dehydrated. Serums such as this one are great for getting moisture in my skin without drying it out. 

It leaves the skin feeling really soft and the perfect base for makeup. We will be doing a full review once we've been able to try it for a while but wanted to go on and share it as with Black Friday and Cyber Monday just around the corner Pestle and Mortar are offering some great deals. It's worth signing up to the mailing list as you get 20% off. Non-subscribers still get 15% off thought.

Have you heard of Pestle and Mortar? Will you be taking advantage of the deals? They can be purchased from pestleandmortarcosmetics.com.

Love M

xxx

Sleek Matte Me in Old Hollywood

Hey All

Lately I've been very spendy so expect a few hauls coming up!! I was meeting some friends in town the other day and have 30 minutes before they arrived and accidently ended up in boots and superdrug and before I knew it I'd bought 2 lipsticks, a lipstick palette, an eyeshadow palette, a contour palette and a nail varnish. Clearly a lack of self control that day ha!

I tend to go to Superdrug more these days as they have a great selection of cruelty free brands (NYX keeps me going to boots though!). With the weather getting colder I'm getting drawn back into the darker shades and can't seem to resist the liquid lipsticks everyone is loving at the moment. As soon as I swatched old hollywood on my hand I knew I was going to buy it. It's such a deep red colour and perfect for the colder weather.

It comes in the traditional lip gloss packaging with the doe foot applicator you would expect for a liquid lipstick, It's really easy to apply direct from the applicator and get that straight line to the lips. It dries really quickly. I love the colour and love how easy it is to apply but it's not my favourite formula. For me it's too drying and does the flaking off the lips from the middle and leaves staining around the lip line. I prefer more mouse like formulas like the NYX lip lingeries and the liquid satins. 

Even though I'm not sold on the formula the colour is so amazing I will definitely keep wearing it. It just needs reapplying throughout the day to keep the colour looking it's best.

Have you tried the Sleek Matte Me lip products? Any tips on stopping it being so drying?

Love M

xxx

MUA Luxe Enchanted Palette

Morning all!

I've been testing out some new palettes recently and the first one I've decided to share is the MUA Luxe Enchanted palette.

I'm sure you have seen these palettes before over on Instagram and Pinterest, or the original ombre type palette that was released by Hourglass. However with the Hourglass Modernist eyeshadow palette costing £56, this isn't affordable for most people and MUA Luxe have released their own version, which is always exciting when an affordable dupe comes along!

The Enchanted palette contains 5 silk eyeshadow shades in a variety of soft pink shades.

On a first glance the palette is so pretty - everyone loves a marble effect and this is beautiful. You can see way there is such a hype surrounding them, and not even starting on the dupe factor!

The outer packaging is quite simple and obviously a lot cheaper than the Hourglass counterpart. Sometimes I think that the cheaper brands could put a bit more into their packaging than making everything black and basic, but I am certainly not complaining about the range of products on the market now that are much more affordable than before.

Looking at the shades, they look very similar and I wasn't sure how wearable they would be nor how pigmented and therefore whether they would even show up properly. My first thought was that the palettes will at least be great for pretty pictures!

You can see the colours swatched below, without and with flash:

How pigmented are they???!!!

I was so impressed! They are very pretty and the colour is so intense, they are perfect rose gold colours ideal for day wear especially weddings.

The only downside I can see to this palette is the colours are very similar and I do wish there was one less lighter shade and one more darker shade to help with creating an entire look. It means I need to use another palette for a dark shade to line my eyes - I look really weird if I don't do this!

I've been really impressed with this palette and how pigmented the colours are.

Unfortunately the pictures I took of me wearing these shades were too blurry to share, not sure what happened to my camera that day but I don't have any more to share right now. I will put some on our Instagram though, you can see them by looking for @thecsigirls

Have you tried the MUA Luxe palettes? Which one do you prefer?

Check back for my thoughts on the other palette, called Enrapture

L xxx

Cruelty Free Skincare Holiday Essentials

Hey All

As I've just got back from holiday there will definitely be a few holiday based posts coming up. I'll be sharing what I got up to soon but as well took over 2500 photos across 4 cameras there are a lot of photos to sort through.

This was my first holiday since moving to cruelty free beauty so I knew I needed to pick up a few bits and find substitutes for old favourites.

Urban Decay Naked Skin Foundation

Hey All

Whilst in duty free I couldn't resist a few cheeky purchases (who can!!) I'd been eyeing up the Urban Decay All Nighter foundation for weeks and had planned to purchase it. In my excitement at the airport of seeing the Urban decay Shop and Foundations there I just grab Naked Skin not paying any attention to the packaging thinking it was the All Nighter foundation. Initially I was a bit disappointed but it's actually really impressed me.

MUA Luxe Velvet Lip Lacquer in Reckless

Good morning!

Today I have a quick review of a new lip product from MUA Luxe, this is a Velvet Lip Lacquer

I purchased this in three different colours because of those really handy 3 for 2 deals we all love. This particular one is called Reckless and is a perfect Taylor Swift kind of red, I love it.

I've seen quite a few lip products like these with a semi matte finish but I haven't yet found one that I like. I just can't seem to get on with nude colours that give you a 90s look, they seem to look good on everyone apart from me so instead I'm going to stick with reds, pinks and berry tones that I know suit me best!

The red is beautifully bright and flattering on my pasty skin - it's exactly what I was looking for! See a swatch below.

The finish is indeed semi matte and this I also prefer. Some of them seem to be so dry in both finish and on the lips over time, this dried but didn't seem to dry my skin either.

As for wear, it does dry and crack a little over time but this is easily solved by applying more. It doesn't seem to flake off, but rather cracks begin to appear in the dried product.

And above shows the lip product on, I really like it!

It was perfect for a night out and the best part was the price itself.....a bargain £3! And at Superdrug they are currently on 3 for 2 so an even better bargain. I also picked up a pink and a berry colour so expect posts of those soon!

What do you think of the semi-matte finish? Do you love the lip lacquer finish?
Have you tried any other of the MUA Luxe range?


L xxx

Dior Masterclass Splendour Event

Well hello there!

Last week we were lucky enough to be invited to a Dior Masterclass with one of our favourites, the lovely Anthony from Ant Gorgeous

He put on a lovely event where we were able to sit and watch him create a make up look on his gorgeous model and learn a few tips and tricks!

We sat down in the meeting room and were offered champagne and cakes, it had an afternoon tea theme which was lovely.

We sat and went through a number of products and got to try them all out on ourselves, which as we all know is the best thing you can offer make up obsessed people!

The Dior Hydra Life Pro Youth Sorbet Creme felt lovely on your skin and absorbed really well. The lipstick and Lip Maximizer lipgloss were both gorgeous too, I have heard so many good things about the Lip Maximizer and apparently Kylie Jenner uses it so you know it must be good!

A particular favourite was the DiorSkin Forever and Ever Wear, Extreme Perfection and Hold Make Up Base. This was a lovely thin fluid and created a lovely base on your skin, it didn't feel tacky but it did feel like it would hold your foundation for a full day.

The DiorSkin Nude Air Luminizer powder is stunning, such a pretty glow but the pattern is so pretty it would be hard to use!

The Dior Show Brow Styler was a big hit for everyone, it's so thin that creating brows from nothing is so easy. The styler allows you to draw on individual hairs to create a really natural look and it blends easily too.

The collection that everyone couldn't take their eyes off was the Splendour collection, this years festive range was beautiful and the colours are stunning. The eyeshadow palette containing five colours is a highlight and I know will be popular. There are also single eyeshadowsavailable in 8 colours, 2 different types of lipsticks, a lip and cheek tint available in four colours, a blush, nail varnish and illuminating pressed powder.

The colour ranges are typically reds and pinks for the lips and nails, and shimmery metallics for the eye products. Whatever you think of when you see the word Splendour, these are exactly the type of products you would expect.

You can see the swatches on my hand above, the liner, the eyeshadows, the lipstick, lipgloss and blush. Beautiful colours!

It was a lovely evening, I picked up a few things including my favourite DiorSkin Forever  Foundation and also a lipstick. I love the DiorSkin Forever Foundation and the finish it has, but also love that it has SPF35 and no flashback at all. I chose a Dior Addict lipstick in Be Dior, it was my first lipstick from this range so I'm looking forward to using it.

We were also given a gift bag containing a few things I haven't tried before so cannot wait to try them out too!

Have you seen the new Splendour collection? What's your favourite product?

Have you tried the Dior Addict lipsticks and Forever Foundation?

L xxx

Beauty Rehab

Hey all!

Autumn is my absolute favourite month, the leaves changing colour and falling off the trees plus the cold crisp weather, I love it!

It's also a great time to get rid of the old stuff in your own life, so I've been using up as fast as I can. I might start Project Ten Pan soon to try and use some other products up, but I feel like it will take too long!

Go Ape - Crathes Castle

Hey All

Last month C and I headed up to Aberdeen to see some of my friends from school who now live up there. When we got up there we decided we'd go to there local Go Ape. C and I have been before in Margam Park (post here) and loved it so we were happy to go again.

There are multiple Go Ape high rope courses dotted around the UK so I was intrigued to see how this one compared. It all started off the same, you're fitted with a harness and given a safety briefing and  chance to practice how to clip yourself into the different options. You also have 5 areas all ending in a zip line so I guess this is the same through them all. The first is done under the supervision of an instructor and gives you a feel for it then you're let off on your own.

Each section has different bits from step on wood and balancing (or holding onto the wire as you're to scared to balance), to tarzan swings (2 on the course), to tubes to crawl through. There is a lot of variety and at the start of each section there are clear instructions on how to clip yourself in!

I love doing things like this, getting outside, a slight adrenaline rush and a bit of exercise. This was something different to when we went to go ape, one of the zip lines had a skateboard at the start of it you could skate down on!

I was never very good at balance and usually held the wire you're clipped into! 

This is the net you swing into for one of the tarzan swings! I love these, C has the video evidence of an involuntary squeal leaving my mouth on this one! You do hit the net with a bit of force!

I was definitely more practically dressed this time, last time we did the course it was an unplanned day and I did it in a playsuit! oops!! 

This is one of the hardest bits for all of us, I even got a sweat on doing this one, I know delightful info you needed to know! This one also slightly terrified me as I kept thinking if I fell I don't have the upper body strength to pull myself back up! I did it though!

Now to find the next go ape to explore!

Have you been on a high ropes course or go ape before? The two I've been to have been situated in amazing parks which make for lovely walks too so you can really make a day of it.

Love M

xxx