MAC Plumage

Hey All

Sorry for the lack of posts from me this week, exam time is here for me and my first one was today. I got lucky and what I revised came up so I could answer what I needed to! Fingers crossed I knew enough to do well!

Today I wanted to share a new purchase from a few weeks ago. I picked it up when I decided to splurge last pay day! Regretting that now.

When L and I were browsing Urban Decay the other day I decide to pick up a MAC eyeshadow as well. I've been wanting to get more colours into my everyday eye make up so was looking for a bright purple or green but none of the shades were taking my fancy that day. I think it was one of those days when no matter what colour I had in my head I wouldn't find it.

After swatching a good few shadows Plumage caught my eye! It's a matte green/blue/grey shade and I thought it would look great blended out in a smokey eye or under the eye. Mac describe it as a dusky peacock shade.

I was so impressed with the swatch as even though it's a matte shade it's well pigmented and easy to blend. It took my fancy straight away!

I decided to grab the pan version as I'm hoping to pick up a palette soon so I can start building my own dream eyeshadow mix and figured it was easier than depotting shadows! They are cheaper too.

It's a different finish to the other MAC shadows I've tried but it's just as impressive. In the photo below I've used it under the eyes to add a slight pop of colour!

Have you tried Plumage? What are your must have shades?

Love M

xxx

Hairy Jayne Hair Perfume and Heat Protector*

Hi there!

A few weeks ago me and M were lucky enough to be contacted by the lovely people behind the Hairy Jayne haircare range and they sent us each a bottle of the Hair Perfume and Heat Protector which we've been using over the last few weeks.

This is a multiple use product to freshen up your hair in between washes, helps combat frizz and flyaways and as a heat protectant.

We were sent 2 different scents and mine was the musk based perfume which includes neroli, vetiver and patchouli. I have to be completely honest and say that this is not a scent that I would have chosen. The floral or Citrus one would have been preferable for me but I've been testing it all the same.

I love the handmade packaging, the recyclable amber glass bottles are really cute and atomiser spray dispenses easily. I like that they come with handmade labels as this such a nice touch.

I like applying this when I've washed my hair and before drying it. It does seem to help it dry with less frizz and when I use it between washes it helps with the shine and it freshens up my hair.

I love using products from handmade brands and with products this high in quality for affordable prices I can see me wanting to try the cream conditioner in future. With wheat protein and coconut oil it sounds like the perfect product for my hair!

L xxx

Morning All

As L has said when we were contacted by Hairy Jayne I couldn't wait to try the products. I love the ideas behind the company and the fact everything is made by hand in a studio in London. L and I have wrote posts on Parabens and SLS so it;s always a bonus to us when a company avoids using them in their products. All the ingredients are also ethically sourced from the UK. I do think it's great to support small UK companies when I can.

All the products are made by hand and in small batches. They are then chemically assessed to ensure quality. I love that on the bottle the batch no. and best before date are hand written showing further that it's handmade. The packaging is also recyclable.

Onto the product. I had the citrus fragrance which is grapefruit, may chang and jasmine. It's light, refreshing and clean smelling. As someone who hates washing their hair a hair perfume really appealed to me. I don't like to wash my hair too much as I have bright colours in my hair and I'm trying to prevent them fading so this product is perfect for inbetween days especially if I've been to the gym.

What really impressed me is how it controls frizz. As my hair is so coloured and bleached unfortunately it is now frizzy and has a tendency to get frizzing in this mixed weather. Applying a few sprays of the product has really helped calm my frizz down. It does have a slight oily feel to it but it doesn't make my hair greasy at all and I do use it on freshly washed hair if I'm straightening it.

I'm impressed with this little product and will definitely be ordering more from Hairy Jayne. The perfume comes in at £9 which is reasonable for a high end home made product. I do think it will last a while as a small amount is needed. It also comes in a Floral Fragrance. The shampoos and conditioners retail for £10 each and the pre-shampoo treatment oil is only £6. This is what my eye is on at the moment. Hurry up pay day so I can make an order!

To view the products and find out more click here.

Love M

xxx

Urban Decay Naked Skin Foundation

Hi there!

After a bit of a spend in Debenhams the other day (products shown below) I've been playing around with all of my new goodies and have been absolutely loving all of them. Today's review is of the Naked Skin foundation from Urban Decay.

In keeping with the Naked product collection, the packaging is rose gold coloured and aside from that very simple. The foundation itself is pretty true to its name; it is weightless, peptide infused, and light diffusing as well as being free of parabens.





The foundation claims it will create a flawless demi-matte finish with light diffusing spheres ensuring you look professionally retouched. Not only that it is infused something crazy sounding called Matrixyl 3000 which is a powerful anti-wrinkle peptide, Lichtiderm which is protecting and brightening, as well as vitamins and antioxidant green tea.





There have been many studies into the effects from using this product and you can see how successful they were in the image above.

There are quite a few shades available in the range, and as a person who tends to live in the upper ranges of the spectrum (thank you rainy Wales..) I was pleased that not only are there a lot of pale shades but I wasn't the palest, which is always nice to know there are shades available for those who are paler than me.





The bottle itself is beautiful, its sleek and simple which is my favourite and most of all it's glass. I love glass bottles for foundation as it feels a lot more expensive and luxurious. However I can see this getting extremely grubby in my morning rush getting make up and fingerprints all over it!

Even the dispenser is similar and is very sturdy, it doesn't feel like cheap plastic that will stop working after a few pumps, nice to know it's not going to give up on me after a few uses.

So how is it on the face? It is exactly as it's described; weightless and light diffusing.

It manages to cover all of my flaws without caking, and although it covers it doesn't mask my face if you understand what I mean. It covers most imperfections and whilst it doesn't cover everything I feel that at least my skin does still look real. Some of my spots require an additional cover up with concealer but generally I find this is enough for me.

See for yourself, here's my face with just Naked Skin and then with the rest of my make up on:

In my opinion this foundation gives me enough coverage without caking my face. In the photo below I have the rest of my face on and I really like the glow it gives.

What do you think of Naked Skin? Do you prefer a lightweight foundation or something heavier?

Would you consider trying it?

If you go to the counter and ask the lovely girls they might even give you a sample size to try which should last you at least a week. I've kept my bottle so that I can refill it for weekends away!

The Naked Skin foundation retails at £27 for 30ml.

L xxx

Fitness Friday: Emily Skye

Hey there, happy Fitness Friday!

A few weeks ago I wrote about my current fitness motivations and inspirations which you can read here.

One of those beautiful people was the lovely Emily Skye of the 30 Day Shred and 30 Day Ab Shred fame. You can see pictures on both of her websites of her previous clients and I hope that one day I can look as good as they do!

I bought the Ab Shred a few weeks ago and have been taking a good look at it. It costs $50 (australian dollars), which converts to £28. I bought it when she had a flash sale and so it cost me £12 which I thought was worth paying out for when I saw how much was in the package and I needed some new ideas.

In the package you get:

• 30 Day beginner Ab workout
• 30 Day advanced Gym workout
• 30 day meal plan
• Full shopping list for each week
• 60+ exercise videos all available to watch online

The meal plan is endorsed by a nutritionist and there are low carb versions available as well as bonus workouts and tips and tricks. 

Once you've paid for the plan you get an email through with your login details. You can access the program online and download it in a PDF form, and the workout videos are all in the same place. 

Not only this but there is also a forum on Facebook for you to join and chat to other members, sharing tips and tricks, asking for help and any time you need a boost of confidence.

So far I haven't stuck to it 100% as I bought it for some food inspiration more than anything else. I have my own routine that I like to stick to but the additional ab workouts have been great to add into my own routine. It was nice to see that I already do a lot of the workouts she recommends but her meal plan is one that i am completely in love with!

The meal plan is amazing, there is no way that you will ever be hungry with 3 meals and 2 snacks every day. If you made each meal as and when you need to eat it then you would probably waste a lot of time and ingredients so because of this preparation is key. Some members spend their sundays prepping food for the week which is what I do a lot of the time anyway.

I make up a huge batch of quinoa to sort me out for breakfasts and lunches for most of the week and also grill a huge pile of veggies and a few batches of muffins. One of my favourite things that is on the meal plan are the muffins, you can have cake as a snack??! WHAT THE.


Not only that you can have pancakes for breakfast, pizze for tea and the mixture for the muffins actually allows you to have 3 muffins as ONE snack. I'm in love, and I'm never hungry, never run down and never low on energy.

There are so many recipes that I'd love to share with you and might do in future. I think that if you are totally lost in your diet and fitness regime its the perfect antidote. It has structure, guidance and so many helpful tips and tricks to get you to lose those extra stubborn pounds.

I'd fully recommend this is you need the guidance and support of fellow members, Emily Skye herself also comments on lots of posts and her boyfriend can also be very helpful too with helping to fit the regime around your current life. However this plan isn't easy and requires a lot of hard work and preparation, you do need to be motivated and put the effort in and trust me you will definitely see the results!

Check the results out on the links above and you will see what i mean!
I will be taking recipe ideas and ab workout ideas from the program and adding them into my own routine over the next few weeks and fingers crossed I'll see some good results soon.


Would you buy a program like this? Do you want to see some recipes from the program that will help you blast ab fat?

Let me know what fitness programs you've been taking inspiration from recently! I always love finding new ideas and ways to stay fit and healthy.


L xxx