Review: Elizabeth Arden 8 Hour Cream

I was so excited to pick this up...it cost me a bargainous £4.50 which quite frankly I am still shocked at 2 months later!!

It is the legendary Elizabeth Arden 8 hour cream which I have lusted after for YEARS and YEARS!

Even the packaging with it's simple white box and red logo makes me smile and go gooey inside which is a bit ridiculous for a box...

I have the American version of the box which has some drug facts on the back, something we don't have in the UK which was different.

I love the design with the 8's in a pattern in the background too, simple but still looks really good.

I was a bit surprised to see the colour of the product, as even though I've wanted it for ages I haven't ever actually seen it!

So being brown I was a bit shocked, clear or white was what I was expecting but never the less this was not about to put me off.

You can see from the picture that it's quite thick, it almost looks and feels like grease which was both alarming and reassuring depending on what I thought I'd be using it for.

Dry skin? Eye make up remover? Taming brows? Woohoo!

However using it anywhere on my face and hair was a bit of a reluctant thought as both are on the oily side.

I've heard it's one of the best things to use when you have a cold and have really dry skin on your nose, but I don't want to use it there and erupt in spots either!

However when you rub it in it seems to sink straight into your skin which drinks it right up

It leaves a lush sheen to your skin which I photographed above, the back of my hand felt amazingly soft for ages afterwards and my left hand felt awful ha.

This was definitely a welcome product in my collection, though I'm still not sure about using it on my face.

I think this will have to be reviewed in the winter when the weather will dry out the skin on my face and i will likely get some kind of cold/flu that seems custom around Christmas!

I've also heard it's great for on flights, your cuticles, heels, and in some cases as a highlighter.

Do you own the 8 Hour Cream? What other uses do you have for it?

My skin has been erupting all over the place lately, have you found the 8 hour cream made it worse/better?

Please let me know!

L xxx

(Edit: I just read that it contains salicylic acid which is very good at getting rid of spots and controlling oil. I will give it a go and see....!)

Review: Stylfile S-File Nail File by Tom Pellereau

Today is a review of an item I was so pleased to see when I opened up my July She Said Beauty box (which by the way I am completely loving and have so far had 3 boxes I really like). This is the S-File style file designed by Tom Pellereau. If you watched The Apprentice you'll recognise his face.

Whilst on The Apprentice I believe he mentioned he had designed this and at the time I was intrigued but had stubby nails from biting them. When I finally grew my nails I had forgotten about it.

The design is simple, it's curved to better fit the shape of the nail to make filing nails easier. So is this just another gimmick on an item that's not really useful but we think is ....

I honestly don't think it is. It does make getting a nice shape to your nail much easier. It's also a really sturdy file and handbag proof though I do keep mine in its box. As the file has hard plastic in the middle it makes it durable. 

The file has two different sides which is rougher on one side making it easy to quickly file away a break or the less rough side can be used to gently shape the nail. 

Another bonus is it's meant to last 12 months. Pretty good if it does. I've had mine around 6 weeks and always grab for it now.

I love that it's black and pink. A great colour combination but not to in your face pink for those girls who aren't as girly as me.

Would I repurchase? Definitely it's great. I'm also going to pick my mum up one. They also do a buffing one which I'm intrigued by as I'm not sure whether that will be easier and a keyring sized one which I will definitely pick up soon. They can all be found on Amazon here. They are all around the £4 mark and you can get the set of three. They can also be purchased from the she said beauty website but it's not wanting to load on my laptop at the moment to link it here!

Have you tried the Stylfile? Is it something you've wondered about?

Love M

xxx

Viktor and Rolf Flowerbomb and Zara scent

Bit of a different post today and I will straight away apologise for my bad scent descriptions! If you follow us on twitter you may have seen over the past few months me try to find 'my' scent. I tend to flit between perfumes a lot and was keen to find one that when I smelt it would be one I'd go back to time and time again.

After being completely overwhelmed by the task in hand. There are way too many scents to smell and I find putting them on those little cardboard things pointless, you don't know how long the smell will last on you or even how it will smell on you.

So I decided to leave the task to Mummy Dearest as my birthday was coming soon and she is good at picking my scents I like. (Ghost Serenity (discontinued boooo) and Diesel Fuel for Life)

Mum picked me up Dior Addict. But warned me not to open it and to go and smell it in the shop a few times. After testing it on my skin it sunk in and I found I couldn't smell it on me at all. After deciding to return it and put the money on a gift card so I could decide at leisure fate intervened (how cheesy am I it's just a perfume) as I was walking up to the perfume counter a sales lady was helping a guy pick his girlfriend a perfume, me being nosey I went to smell the one she was suggesting and was instantly sold.

Meet my new perfume love. Viktor and Rolf Flowerbomb 

How cute is the box, a wax seal on with the V&R emblem and in cute colours, baby pink and black.

This is unfortunately one of those big boxes little bottles. Now this isn't cheap it's and Eau De Parfum meaning it will last longer on the skin. Something I've notices I need. It can be picked up cheaper than boots on fragrance websites but it's worth considering how many points you can get during offers to decide if it's worth it.

The bottle is plain glass and the perfume has a pink tinge to it with a simple silver plaque stating the perfume name. It also has a little black seal the same as the box. This isn't one that will instantly stand out on your make up desk but the smell makes up for it.

So what does this perfume smell like. The Viktor and Rolf website says:

Full-bodied and opulent, the Eau de Parfum explodes in a bouquet of sensations with its addictive floral notes which leave their trail, like a whirlwind that is distinctly couture. A millefleurs around the freesia, Centifolia rose, osmanthus and Sambac jasmine, supported by a background of patchouli

I'd say it's definitely a strong oriental floral scent with a hint of softness to it. It's not overly floral I don't instantly think flowers when I smell it. I detect a small hint of vanilla to soften the floralness. (see I'm not good). But it's really good and you should go smell it.

What I was more pleasantly surprised at was when I was in Zara that was a perfume that smelt very similar but obviously had a more attractive price tag to it and would be great for day to day wear. It's one I will definitely pick up soon. I believe it's the Zara Black peony but I will double check when I purchase :)

Have you tried Flowerbomb of Zara Black Peony? What's your favourite perfume?

Love M

xxx

EDIT: While I think black peony does smell similar I think the Zara oriental fragrance smells more like it and you get more for £9.99

NOTD: Film Inspired

A double whammy post for you today!

We were far too excited after completing a few day's of Make Up Savvy's challenge to finish our 21 Days of Nails without taking part in the 'Film Inspired' challenge.

We both spent ages thinking up ideas and films and trying to find something that would be easily translated into a nail design that people would understand and be able to replicate if they want.

My post is based on a book and film that I'd barely heard anything about until the film came out not so long ago.

I'm one of those people that needs to read the book before seeing the film and I can promise you I could not put the book down and ended up reading all three within 5 days, i had some serious eye strain by the end!

It is of course 'The Hunger Games' by Suzanne Collins.

So I decided to try some nail art inspired by this film:

First of all i used the China Glaze Capitol Colour in Smoke and Ashes which is actually for District 12 on my thumb and middle finger.

I used Rimmel's yellow (can't remember the name sorry!) and a Nails Inc free with InStyle orange colour blobbed on top for my other nails.

I then covered the yellow and orange nails with a black crackle effect polish (Barry M) to imitate the fire and burning effect on the front of the book cover that i used for inspiration (found here)

Then I used Model's Own Champagne nail polish to draw on a Mockingjay on the thumb nail and a bow and arrow on my middle finger.

I'm not sure how well these will come across but it took FOREVER to get this thumb part right, a lot of layering so i didn't smudge any other lines and making sure the lines stood out enough.

It took a little while but i was so pleased when i was done.

I think from now on whenever a new film is coming out I will have to do an inspired nail design as I really enjoyed having something to imitate.

What do you think? Do you like my Hunger Games nails??

I had so many other ideas for this one that i may have to do another :)

I loved the books though i wish they hadn't ended as I read them far too quickly 

L xxx

I absolutely love L's nails, when she sent me the photo I was so impressed. I also have to add the books are amazing. I read them so quick and I'm disapointed they are over so much so I think I will re read them.

For my film inspired nails I kind of cheated. I picked a film I've not actually seen as I wanted to do these nails. I picked Breakfast At Tiffany's. Since I picked up my mint green nail varnish I've been wanting to try these nails.

I love how iconic the Tiffany box is and it's just so cute!! I did originally try to hand draw the bows but with my dotting tool I couldn't get it to work. When routing through my nail varnish bag I found some little bows I ordered from eBay I forgot about and they just worked perfectly.

I painted all my nails with Rimmel I love lasting finish in shade Pear Drop 703. I picked up two of these the other day as they were on offer but I've found both of them leave nails very streaky and need 3 coats to get a decent finish. Overall I've just not liked using them at all. It's a shame as they are such pretty colours just a pain to apply.

Pear drop is a shimmery metal mint green. It's a very pretty shade on the nails and does look nice if you take the time to apply thin coats and let them dry in between.

I then used my trusty OPI Apline White to draw crosses on my nails. On the ring finger I put the horizontal cross further up the nail so it was off centre and I prefer this look but my thumb nail was too short to do this.

My nails are a state at the moment as you may have seen me mention in my last post for some reason I'm back biting them at the moment and it's really annoying me that I am. 

For the little bows I used plastic ones I picked up from ebay cheap. They come in a variety of colours and I just apply a layer of top coat and then place them on the nail. They are cute and make nail art really simple.

Hope you've enjoyed our nail posts over the last three weeks. I know we've both enjoyed doing lots of nail art.

Love M
xxx