Beauty Rehab

Hi all!

I've got another installment to the Beauty Rehab series I've been writing for the last two years now. I can't believe it's that long!
It was my aim to have downsized my stash by now and i never thought I'd still be writing them as I assumed I would have worked my way through the majority by now. I obviously need to up my game and get a move on using stuff up. I haven't actually bought many products for a long time, but i do think Christmas/Birthday sets contribute greatly and also I do seem to acquire products that some people no longer want so that doesn't help!

I'm hoping to move out as soon as I've got myself back on my feet financially which is probably at least a year away, I'm giving myself the rather large target of getting rid of as much as possible....i.e. almost all of it by Christmas. I need to get a move on!

La Roche Posay - Toleriane cleanser is a gel cleanser and I absolutely loved it. So easy to use when you come home from a night out and want more than a face wipe but cant be bothered with a muslin cloth. It's ideal and I'd repurchase.

Label M - Honey and Oat conditioner. This goes with the shampoo i finished in a previous post; probably the first time I've finished a shampoo before it's conditioner! This smelt warm and comforting and did a god job of being a daily conditioner.

No7 Protect and Perfect Body Serum - This was donated to me and I did enjoy using it until the top starting to come apart and it started to dry out so I can't really give this a review as it was still full! Pooooooooor packaging.

Origins Zero Oil Toner - Surprisingly loved this, really good at absorbing oil for the day and although I'm not a toner fan I would consider buying this again to keep my oil at bay.

Antipodes Divine Oil - already repurchased as 3 days without it made me cry. So much love for this oil!

Lacura Aqua Complete Serum - Enjoyed this especially for the bargain of £3.50. Would repurchase.

Murad Pore and Line Minimising Hydrator - This was really nice and was so light it felt like a serum, can't say that I'd repurchase though for the £49.50 price tag as I just cannot afford that on a regular basis!

Skin Revivals Facial Cleansing Oil - this took a bit of getting into as I'd never used an oil cleanser before, but it was GREAT at removing eye make up especially mascara so I persevered and used this every day to remove it before cleansing with my normal one. Wouldn't repurchase at this time.

Benefit They're Real mini mascara - LOVE. I save my minis like a kid saves sweets.

Dr Organic Manuka Honey Lip Balm - so battered you can barely read it, the sign of a well used product! Would definitely repurchase!

Rimmel's Scandaleyes - I liked this initially but i think other Rimmel mascaras work better on my lashes, sometimes this clumped together for me.

Collection Lasting Perfection Powder - I know there's some left in this....it's done that funny thing where its got a coating on it from usage and I just can't be bothered to try and salvage it. I personally prefer Stay Matte to this.

Origins Starting Over moisturiser sample - Enjoyed using this in the nights but not sure my skin needs this much just yet...save it for when I'm older!

Origins Andrew Weil Mega Bright serum -  I've never met a serum from Origins that i haven't liked and this was no exception. If only it was cheaper I'd snap it up regularly!

Revlon Nearly Naked - Took me a while to get into this, think it was probably because my skin wasn't good enough at the time but I soon loved it. I would repurchase in future after I've worked my way through some of the others in my stash

Eysilix eye cream - This was a funny one. Didn't love it and i wouldn't repurchase because my eyes seem to be sensitive to it on random occasions, but it did hydrate my eye area and my under eye bags did lessen somewhat.




So that's what I've been using up recently, are any of these your favourites? Have you loved or loathed any of them? Are you working your way through your own stash?

I need some serious focus over the next few months!

L xxx

Lauren's Way Dream Rollers

Evening All

I'm feeling great this evening after a great workout. I love the feeling after a good workout. After I've done spin tomorrow I expect I'll be complaining!

A few weeks ago I went to the launch of the new Lauren's Way Darker than Dark Glam tan launch, you can read reviews on it here (I'm currently sat with it on ready for a night out for L's birthday on Saturday!)

I already own the Lauren's way rollers but have never got around to reviewing them. L is a big fan of them and when we go on nights out I quite often take mine to hers for her to use as we are getting ready. You can see the result of them being in L's hair from this old post.

When I saw the dream rollers in the goodie bags I was so pleased as I only got the set of 8 when I originally purchased them and needed more.

You can see from the picture below the one on the top right is an old roller. These are over 20 months old and still in great condition and the foam is still bouncy.

Dream rollers are squishy so they can be comfortably slept in. I'm not going to lie and say you can't feel them in your head because you can! I find if you sleep on your back or stomach you'll be fine. If you sleep on your side I'd recommend putting your hand between head and pillow to initially squish the rollers and then remove your hand. 

Once you get used to the fact you have an extra pillow around your head and find a comfy position they are fine to sleep in. I didn't wake up through the night and even though I'm a fidget they stay in perfectly well and don't need grips in (when I only had 8 I used grips as the rollers had more hair on them and in L's hair I use grips)

When I only had 8 rollers I bought the boots version as they were cheaper thinking they'd be just as good. They aren't don't consider the cheaper alternative as they don't compare. The boots version the foam hasn't held up as well, are slightly smaller, don't grip the hair as well but the hair they do grip they seem to rip out (I'm sure you can see all the hair around the red one! I always felt bad getting these out of L's hair and tugging at her hair!)

Rollers in all ready to sleep. I put them into clean dry hair and just slept!

The result the next morning! Hello huge hair. This was after just pulling the rollers out and no moving the hair around. The rollers give such root boost and also add a lush curl. If you have long hair they would give a gorgeous curl! Apologies for the dark photos on the last two but it was late at night and early morning and my room has crap lighting!

Hair all styled out! I love the subtle wave and the messy look it gives to my long bob. This is the result of them being put in my natural hair (which is a curly frizzy mess!)

If I have straight hair I like to add the rollers in for an hour when I'm getting ready and showing etc as I love how it just adds soft volume and curls my ends under!

I'm so glad I've now got the full set it's much easier! I'm sure L will be wanting these for Saturday too!

Have you tried dream rollers? They are great to sleep in but you still get great results from popping them in for an hour!

Love M

xxx

ProVoke a Touch of Silver Twice a Week Brightening Shampoo

Evening All

Time seems to be just escaping me at the moment and late evening seems to be the only time I can post. Since upping my training at the gym I feel like free time is going. I'm so far behind on loads of tv shows but by the time I catch up with friends I have no time. Can we have more hours in the day.

Today I thought I'd share with you a product I think every blonde needs to have whether you have all over colour or just highlights. I recently put an all over blonde shade on brown hair to try and lighten it but it had gone a bit brassy and slightly funny toned so I picked up the Provoke shampoo again.

Whenever I'm blonde I swear by this. As someone who only washes there hair every 5 days I tend to use it for most washes. I used to use the John Frieda purple range but this is a bit cheaper and works even better in my opinion.

It's a bright purple shampoo and is quite runny. I tend to wash my hair with normal shampoo first then apply this. It lathers up well in the hair and is easily rubbed in. You then need to leave it on for 5 minutes.

I don't follow up with the conditioner just because I have others I prefer to use so have never tried it and quite often use a hair mask. When using this I do feel my hair needs a good conditioner as when it's washed out the hair can feel quite dry.

The shampoo really brightens hair up. I wash so impressed. It worked on my hair so well when I dyed it. I dyed it one weekend went to work and nobody noticed it was lighter. The next weekend I used this shampoo and everyone then noticed on Monday my hair was lighter!

If you're a blonde or ombre lover I cannot recommend this enough! It really removes brassy tones and brightens blonde!

It can be picked up in savers, supermarkets or boots and is around £3 mark!

Love M

xxx

Naked 3

Morning All

It's been a busy weekend for me. I ended up going home for the weekend as last weekend my brother really hurt himself doing jumps in the hills by me (he's 30 and should know better)! Any ways one very damaged pelvis and two nieces later I wanted to pop home and see him and take his little girls off his hands. He's currently in a lot of pain whenever he does anything. He could only manage 30 minutes sat down in a wheelchair before we had to go home. Seeing someone who is normally so active in so much pain from doing the simplest things was certainly hard!

Anyway onto more positive things. When L and I went to a product showcase a few weeks ago I couldn't resist buying myself Naked 3! Could I afford it? No. Was it Necessary? No. Did I need it? No. Am I completely in love? Yes!!!!

This shows Naked 2 and 3 next to each other. They are different enough to need both. As someone who loves naked 2 I do think 3 is complimentary to my skin tone.

I absolutely love my Naked 2 palette. Since buying Naked 2 I have used it so much I've hit pan on a few colours (this was how I justified to myself I needed Naked 3!). You can read my thoughts on Naked 2 here.

The packaging of Naked 3 is similar to naked 2. A metal tin that holds up well to damage and travel. It has a huge mirror in which is always appreciated and a great quality double ended brush. Naked 3 is a rose gold toned theme to it. Naked 3 comes with 4 sachets of primer potion. At first I was disapointed by these but they have lasted well and it's good to try all 4.

The primers really do enhance the colours and make them last even longer. For everyday use I don't usually use a primer as I don't feel it's necessary but for evenings I prefer a more intense colour.

In the above photo is the following colours without and with primer to show the difference. Here are Buzz, Factory, Blackheart and Dust.

Primer really makes a difference to dust as it is a very glittery shadow prone to fallout. I love the sparkliness of it though. Blackheart really intensifies with a primer.

There are a really good mix of shadows in the palette with mattes, glitters, shimmers and frost finishes.

Strange is a perfect all over the lid base matte colour. This is getting a lot of use from me.

Dust is probably my favourite shadow. It is a glitter shadow so there is some fallout and it works better with a primer. It's such a pretty nude sparkle.

Burnout is a frost finish and one I've not really used.

Limit is the perfect neutral crease colour. It's a matte shade so perfect for defining the crease and is light so work perfect for no make up make up.

Buzz is a beautiful rose shadow and works for a smoky eye or I like wearing it under the eye. It's a shimmer shadow and looks so pretty.

Trick is a very yellow gold. I've used this as a liner for a different make up look and under the eyes. It applies well and lasts well with and without primer.

Nooner is a colour I fear I'll hit pan on. It's the perfect crease colour. I tend to layer this over limit if I want a more defined crease. This has replaced my beloved tease from Naked 2.

Liar is a really pretty shimmer colour. This and mugshot work perfect for lazy day make up. They provide a soft shimmer of colour over the lid. Liar is warmer toned than mugshot. I love to just sweep these over the lid.

Factory is a lovely warm brown that I like to apply to the outer V for some definition on everyday make up.

Darkside is a deep grey. It has a small amout of shimmer but is quite matte. I like to layer this under blackheart.

Blackheart is a complete beaut!! A matte black shadow packed with a pink glitter. It looks amazing on the eye and I'm in love with this colour.

Naked 3 is a palette I've used loads. As with the other Naked palettes it can easily be used for everyday or for nights out.

Here is strange on the lid and limit and nooner through the crease and under the eye.

Here I have used darkside to deepen the outer v and dust to add shimmer to the inner corner.

Here is a heavier make up look using naked 3. I love how the colours all blend in so easily to each other and can be built up. The 3 looks I have shown all start from the beginning and are built up.

Although I didn't need Naked 3, it's got a lot of love from me already.

Urban Decay are a brand L and I love. The products are great quality and so easy to use. For £38 the palette comes with a brilliant quality brush and 12 shadows. I do think urban decay palettes are worth every penny.

Have you got Naked 3 yet?

Love M

xxx