Benefit Carnaby Street

Good morning!

I was so relieved for it to be the weekend.....until I realised that I have to work my first Saturday in my new job!
I've managed to put it off for 3 months as i didn't have enough training and had to wait for my jabs to take effect, but now there's no excuse....so instead of spending it in bed I'll be up at 6 again and hitting the road at 7....booooooooo!

If you follow us on twitter you'll have seen a few tweets from us about attending London Fashion Week (LFW) on Monday to see the hair and make up being done backstage at some of the shows. We're writing a full post on that tomorrow so please check back to see some amazing pictures!

Whilst we were there we decided to have a good old wander around London, particularly some of the not so obvious places. We ended up near Liberty's and Carnaby Street and low and behold, we found the Benefit bus!
This bus looks amazing, its beautifully pink exactly how you'd expect from Benefit and is fully kitted out with seats, ipads, tv screens and obviously lots and lots of make up!

It was of course celebrating the fact that Benefit have a new store opened on Carnaby Street, but this is not just any store as it's a boutique where you can not only have your make up done and pick up some lovely new products, but also have your hair blow dried, nails painted, spray tans and waxes all in the convenience of one beautiful store with champagne!
What an amazing idea!

We were welcomed onto the bus by Lisa Benefit and Alyson Rowe which was lovely, and they managed to get the AMAZING Pocket Belles to sing us a few numbers which were unbelievable.
They are amazing singers and performers and they're songs were brilliant!

I particularly loved the Benefit song and their Benefit print dresses.

 



I was lucky enough to have my eye make up done by Lisa as she showed us the looks they used at the Matthew Williamson show at LFW, the eyeshadows were beautiful browns and bronzey colours which she also mixed together to create an amazing shimmery bronzer which I will definitely be trying in future!



Alyson then arranged for us to travel to the new Benefit Carnaby Street store by rickshaw and it was brilliant, I've never been on one before so it was a lot of fun and I did feel like I was going to fall out!



So...onto the new store!

This was downstairs (we forgot to take photos upstairs....) and shows the make up bar with brow bar the other side and hair and nail salon in the background.

The blowouts are all on the wall for you to choose from and this was such a nice touch, I would personally pick Carrie if i was having mine done as I love big and voluminous hair!

One of the BEST things was that we were able to look at all the beautiful Christmas sets that Benefit are bringing out for this year.
I can safely say that I want all of them, and did end up picking one up to take home with me.....

This one was one of my favourites because of the variety of products in it and I will surely be picking it up. As soon as I get paid next!

This kit was great, such a bargain for essential Benefit products to try.

All of the kits vary in price and there is a picture of the pricelist further on below if you'd like to see. Some do seem a bit steep but when you look at the products inside and see that they're either full size or between full and sample size then you understand.

They also have a new fragrance out in time for Christmas which M loves, it's a very heavy warm and musky scent but I love that it's called Under My Spell Noelle!





The rest of the store was beautiful as well, there was a bar where you could order drinks from including Champagne which we were given a glass of and it was lovely surprise.





The store was (luckily for us!) really quiet so we could browse in peace and play around the with infamous blush boxes and new lip products out







The nail bar above and hair salon below look really cosy and I can see myself spending a lot of time in here if given half a chance!
I could quite easily spend a day moving through the different areas and having a complete pamper day before a night out. It would be perfect for hen nights and work parties!







Whilst there both me and M were treated to an eyebrow shape and wax. It was my first EVER time having my brows done professionally as I've never bothered before and so I was equally nervous and excited to have them done.
I've always been worried that someone would make them too thin or too arched and weird looking but obviously Benefit know their brow stuff and after meeting the girls I knew I was in safe hands!

After a quick consultation she got to work and this is what my brows looked like afterwards:



I absolutely love them!!! They're beautifully arched now which is something I couldn't get quite right and I'm hoping I can keep this up for a while before I get them done again. I would definitely go again as any pain and tadpole brow worries I had have been put to rest and I'd definitely go to get them reshaped again to save me the hassle.

The store is beautiful and we had so much fun. For an impromptu trip to London and ending up on the Benebus we had an amazing time and that was all down to Lisa, Alyson and the girls working at Benefit Carnaby Street so thank you so much to you all for making us feel welcome.

We even both made a sneaky purchase of the Christmas sets and I imagine there will be more made in the future!

I for one will be aiming to collect all the sets which may be a little expensive. I'm one down tho so it can't be all that hard right??
I think I need to get a boyfriend to afford all of them..... I just cannot resist all of those quirky tins!

Have you been to Benefit Carnaby Street? Will you be making a trip there to see the new store and all it has to offer?
Which of the Christmas sets have tickled your fancy?

I'm honestly having trouble deciding between Groovy Kind of Love, It's a Love Fest and Gimme Some Lovin!

L xxx

Bourjois Healthy Mix Serum Foundation

Happy Friday!

Hope you've all had a good week. I'm on my first week of working a Saturday and after a busy weekend with a wedding and a trip to LFW and Benefit's new store on Carnaby Street I am so unbelievably tired!

This foundation has been helping me out this week.

Bourjois' Healthy Mix Serum Foundation has been giving me a healthy glow and covering up all of my complexion imperfections.

This is my first ever gel foundation, and it claims to be vitamin rich and anti fatigue which is exactly what I've been needing the past week or so!

I picked up the foundation in number 51, which I believe is one of the lightest colours that they have in the range.

Bourjois claim that this foundation is an instant blending gel with flawless complexion and undetectable coverage. They also state that they contain vitamin rich fruits including lychee, goji berries and pomegranate.
It's a low coverage foundation with a semi matte finish.

I like the glass bottle, and the pump feels really sturdy. It dispenses product really easily and feels more expensive than it actually costs.

I applied this foundation with a Real Techniques buffing brush for the pictures below. All I have on in the pictures is the Bourjois foundation and I think my skin does look like it's glowing.

Excuse my messy brows, I have now had them waxed (for the first time!) so they're looking a lot better now...

It does have quite low coverage, on days where my skin is a little worse than normal I normally end up mixing it with a higher coverage just to make sure that my blemishes are covered.
Normally though this foundation is enough to cover my lack lustre skin and give it a boost!

Have you used the Bourjois Healthy Mix Serum Foundation?

Do you like radiance foundations?

I love the extra hydration this foundation gives my skin as it has been a lot drier recently!

L xxx

Benefit's The Bronze Champions

A number of weeks ago I went to the Stay Flawless event in Bristol for the launch of Benefit's new primer, the review you can read here.

I managed to answer one of their questions right about the new primer and won myself a Bronze Champions kit,  was so excited as I've never tried the majority of the products in this kit and couldn't believe I'd actually won something! I never win anything!

I'm all about a summer glow, seeing as in Britain we need to fake it due to the lack of real rays!

This kit has EVERYTHING you need for a bronzed look and I've had so much fun playing with it.

I love that the packaging is like a book, and even takes the mick out of food facts by having their own 'Beautrition Facts'

As expected from Benefit, their products always come with a Tips and Tricks leaflet which I find really helpful when i haven't used the products before.

As you can see the layout of the kit is so cute! Why do miniature versions of things always seem to look better?!

The kit even comes with more instructions inside along with a mirror, this really is the ultimate kit for on the go!

I love that the products are numbered with the corresponding tips so you can easily follow the instructions and suggestions. This is so good for when you haven't used something before.

The kit itself is obviously great, but you can remove pieces from it including the eyeshadow cream, hoola lip gloss, they're real mascara and watt's up highlighter which is even better for those times you really need to touch up your make up from your hand bag and not carry the full kit around.

The picture below shows the Watt's Up highlighter on my cheekbones:



Below it's blended into my foundation and the Hoola bronzer has also been applied into the hollows of my cheekbones:



I love this look! I love how glowy my skin looks and it's sculpted my cheekbones.
The cream eyeshadow in Bikini-Tini is a beautiful cream colour with a bit of shimmer in. I blended really easily and really complements my skin tone.
I love the colour of Thanks-a-latte powder eyeshadow which applied in the right photo shows a really nice definition for day time wear:

I've absolutely loved using this over the summer months and as usual Benefit have created a fabulous kit with everything you could possibly need.
This would be great for holidays, a weekend away or if you aren't leaving the country like me, nights out at the weekend!

The Hoola Bronzer and Watt's Up highlighter were great for me to try the first time as I'd never used them before. They're Real mascara is a personal favourite of mine anyway so it was a welcome addition to the kit!

Have you tried Bronze Champions? Which of the kits from Benefit are your favourite?

L xxx

Review: Sanctuary Spa Creme Souffle

I'm a big body butter fan and love them. As I have a stock pile of them when my mum asked if I wanted any more for my birthday I said I had loads so she picked this up for me instead. She always gets me sanctuary products as I love them. They products always feel luxurious and I love the smell.

I love that it's a huge tub, paraben free and not tested on animals. The Creme Souffle smells amazing. The Sanctuary range smells light and fresh, not sweet and just reminds me of a spa. I love the bright orange colour. 

The Creme Souffle is a really light moisturiser. It's so light and is an air whipped texture. I love that it's lighter than a body butter so it doesn't feel as heavy on the skin. You only need a small amount and it sinks easily into the skin without feeling heavy or coated but just well moisturised.

I think any body butter fan would love this. It feels lighter on the skin but leaves the skin as well moisturised. I really like the fluffy texture of this.

Are you a body butter fan? Have you tried many Sanctuary products?

Love M

xxx