Brow Arch March

Evening all!

Tonight L and I have been at an event with the lovely Benebabes from Boots Cardiff to celebrate Brow Arch March. Brow Arch March is a collaboration between Benefit and Debenhams to raise money and awareness for the amazing charity look good feel better.

Look good feel better helps teens and women suffering with cancer deal with the visible side effects it causes by providing workshops and advice. I absolutely love the charity and what they due makes a huge difference. My mum's cousin is currently undergoing chemo and has benefited from advice on how to tie scarves and really found it useful to have people around to help with such tasks.

Brow arch march is now going to be an annual event. The benebabes described it as our version of Movember! I love that. For the whole of march you can go to a benefit brow bar and get your brows waxed for free. They suggest a £5 donation for every wax. The full donation (whatever you choose) goes completely to charity! All us bloggers paid to get in tonight to help raise money. I know L and I will be popping along for a wax or two as well! 

Whilst we were there we were also introduced to some of the latest releases to try out. L and I were both excited to try out Gimme Brow! We'd wanted to try it for ages and Benefit really our amazing at brows! It's fair to say it didn't disappoint and L and I will be running to the counter come pay day! It has the perfect size little brush, fills brows and helps create the perfect polished look easily. Whilst doing all of that it's also weather proof so you won't find your brows have slipped half way down your face in summer (if it comes!!).

As soon as we got there my eyes went straight to the Big Easy. After seeing this on Lisa Potter-Dixon's instagram a few weeks back I couldn't wait to test it out. Described as better than a BB cream and as I'm a BB cream fan especially as I've been wearing less make up during the day at the moment I needed to try it! It provides a flawless skin appearance, corrects redness, cream to powder finish (no dewy finish which I love), provides moisture and has an impressive SPF 35!! I will be grabbing this for my holiday. Who needs sun cream when I can have BB cream and look good on the beach.

Benefit have teamed up with Marvel and have a Spy Girl comic now!! How amazing the geeks in L and I were VERY excited!! It even features the black widow!

Also available to try was lolli tint. Lolli tint is right up my street. I'm a pinks girl when it comes to make up, especially cool tones. Where I'm so pale I find they suit me. I loved the colour it was on my lips. It does come out different on everyone's lips. It produces a gorgeous soft pink on the cheeks!

Not the best photo but hello amazing brows and lolli tint lips!

I think it's far to say our love of Benefit products grows again! L and I are such addicts!! The wish list now contains agent zero shine, stay don't stray, gimme brow and lolli tint! 

What's on your wishlist? Are you going to visit a brow bar for brow arch march? You save yourself £6.50 on the normal price, get an amazing Benefit brow wax (they conceal and reapply your brows for you!) and get to feel good about donating to a great charity!

Thanks lovely benebabes and benedude! Was great to see you all again!

Love M

xxx 

Murad Clarifying Toner *

Evening All

Hope you've had a good day. I'm off out on a date tonight. I'm hoping I can push for pizza!

I'm a huge toner fan and have mentioned this on a few occasions on here. As someone with oily skin I really feel like my skin benefits from a toner. I find without a toner it gets even more oily.

L and I are both Murad fans and love trying new products. The AHA/BHA Exfoliating Cleanser (review here) and after using it for over a year twice a week I still have some left.

The Clarifying toner is aimed at people with oily and blemish prone skin. It claims to help minimize oil, control shin and keep pores clean.

The toner does have a very strong chemical scent which at first did put me off of it. After using it for the past 2 months though I have got used to the smell and have been really enjoying using it. I find it has really controlled the shine on my face during the day and therefore my foundation has been lasting longer.

I do feel like it has been going down quickly. I find that because you use it with cotton wool you end up using more product than you need. I would love this more if it was in a spray bottle as I feel it would last longer.

Once I got used to the smell I have really enjoyed it and it has really helped my breakouts. My skin had gotten really bad and I was having a lot of breakouts. It has reduced the spots and helped control oil. I don't think it has helped my pores as my nose is still got blackheads.

If you are after a toner to reduce spots and control oil this is a perfect one. For me when I repurchase I will transfer it to an old lush toner bottle to see if it lasts longer.

Are you a toner user?

Love M

xxx

Lauren's Way Glam Tan Darker than Dark. *

Hey All

Hope you've had great weekends! Mine has been one of mixed emotions. L and I met up with a friend and went out to watch the rugby yesterday. With both of us being rugby fans and myself being English and L being Welsh we knew it was going to be an interesting match!! A very happy result for me with England beating Wales and us winning the triple crown. Now if France could beat Ireland next weekend so we can win I'd be happy! On the downside my brother was in a pretty bad accident when doing jumps on his bike the hills near us back home and has currently spent the last 3 days in and out of hospital dosed up on morphine! It times like these I hate that I've moved away from home!

Anyway on to happier stuff. With the lush weather we've been having this weekend I've been layering on the tan. I feel so much better with a tan. I feel like I look healthier (A lovely work colleague this week told me I looked like death on a day I'd decided not to wear make up to work!), thinner and just a bit better with a tan.

I was lucky enough to go to the Lauren's way launch a few weeks back. After trying the Darker than Dark lotion first probably over 18 months ago I was excited to try the glam tan version as I had loved the first so much.

The event was amazing and I mentioned it a bit more here.

Glam tan is a formula that was available in the other shades but darker than dark is a new release. Glam tan is like a spray tan. It has a spray nozzle and the tan itself is a very thin liquid. I'm someone who normally prefers lotions to mouse so I was excited to try a liquid,

Even though I'm pale I do still like to use darker than dark as I find with light tans it takes ages to build the colour up and to be honest I'm a little lazy. There is always the worry that you'll go orange but with this tan I didn't! (with the exception of my hands but that's my fault as after forgetting to tan them I thought it would be a great idea to do it after drinking a bottle of wine and was a bit too liberal with the tan! Thanks L for the photographic evidence of it!! She was gutted England were winning!)

Due to the fact Glam Tan is a liquid it can be used on the face and body. I find sometimes tan will either accentuate my pores of block them. With this on it doesn't seem to be the case and my face matches by body without being spotty as a result.

To apply Glam Tan you spray it onto the mitt first, then rub in, in circular motions. As it's a thin liquid it dries really quickly. I was also impressed that it didn't rub off from wearing a bra leaving marks. It was also streak free.

Pre tan

After Developed

Once Washed off (I do think the sun was a bit bright for this photo as I'd say it's darker in real life!)

Although this photo was taken pre wash off I think it's more true to the colour I am now!

It also fades really well without leaving patches. I am someone who uses a shower puff and I definitely think if you apply fake tan this is good as it helps keep the tan from fading off patchy.

I'm really loving glam tan. For me I prefer the formula to the lotion as it's thinner it's easier to apply and sinks in quicker. As for smell. It doesn't have that biscuit scent at all which noone ever wants with fake tan. As it develops it does get a slight smell but once washed off it's gone again.

I'm already converted. My plan is now I've started is to top up every three days so I stay tanned! I much prefer being brown.

Glam Tan is £19.95 for 250mls and can be bought from Lauren's Way or Superdrug. If your local store doesn't stock it you can have it sent to store and save on delivery costs!

Have you tried Lauren's Way? Would darker than dark put you off if you were pale?

Love M

xxx

American Dreaming!

Hi lovelies!

A quick post ofr you today, mainly a few snaps!
I have a friend in America who I met when I went there a few years ago for uni for a couple of months. It was an amazing experience and she also came over to Britain to do her Masters too so that was fun. We often send each other things every couple of months to try and get our favourite things from each others countries which is obviously very handy for blogging!

I sent her over a few things such as face wash, Girls Aloud Eylure lashes, Rimmel mascaras and of course...........Cadbury's chocolate!

This was what I received:

Look at all that bad food!!!!

I went to M's the other night for food ( a LUSH healthy fish stew yummm!) and we finished the evening by eating some Pop Tarts. I'd never tried them before and can't say i would again....the fudge flavour is nothing like fudge whatsoever! I think I've just weaned myself off sugar and this doesn't taste right anymore!

The Oreos i plan on eating with some amazing peanut butter though as I hear its the way the Americans do it....and it would be rude not to!

As far as products are concerned she sent my favourite face scrub from a Neutrogena range that we don't have here, two Essie polishes I asked for and China Glaze Christmas 2013 set. So much glitter!

I always love seeing the names of the polishes in these sets! I can't wait to get them on my nails even though its nowhere near Christmas anymore, glitter isn't just for the festive season you know!

This face scrub is one of my uber faves and I'm gutted we can't get our hands on it over here. The rice protein really does absorb oil for hours on end and when I was there i didn't even wear make up because my skin cleared up with the help of the sun and this beauty!

The Essie polishes were Leading Lady and Stylenomics. LL was a limited edition polish for us Brits last year and i was so gutted i didn't get a full size one but found on the american website that they were still selling it! I was very pleased as you can imagine!
Stylenomics is a gorgeous dark green that I cannot wait to wear, it's a classic colour that should go with a lot of things now and in future.

Are you as lucky as me and have a contact in the US who can send you things? She's sent me EOS balls and many other things and I'm hoping it will continue for a few years to come!

What would you choose for them to send you? I'd love to go back over there and have a spree! I'd hate to think how much I'd spend!

L xxx