Nip and Fab: Viper Venom Wrinkle Fix

Hey All

I'm currently sat in bed in massive amounts of pain after completing the Cardiff Half this morning so thought I'd share with you something L and I are currently loving while the other half slowly potters around tidying. A cheeky Chinese is on the way soon.

When I was browsing debenhams the other day I spied a lot of Nip + Fab stuff massively reduced. Que me immediately ringing L and seeing if she wanted some too. Most of it worked out about 75% off. So far from all we've tried we are big fans!

We are both skincare fans and have always tried to have a proper skincare regime and believe that prevention is better than cure. A serum is something I've been bad at using but been trying to recently after we went to a Neal's Yard Remedy evening and it was mentioned that serums are good to use pre moisturiser as they penetrate the skin and moisturise the under layers.

As you can see from the box the claims it offers. It claims to blur wrinkles and contain viper venom to help minimize the look of them. As my wrinkles are pretty non existent I can't comment on if the serum is helping them.

It's a clear gel like formula that sinks into the skin and leaves it feeling non greasy. My skin has approved of using this as of late and it hasn't broken me out in spots. My skin feels smoother and more hydrated from adding it too my routine.

It's also lasting pretty well. A little goes a long way! The viper venom and bee sting things always intrigued me with their claims of plumping abilities. I'm really glad I tried this one and will be repurchasing at full price!

Have you tired any of the viper venom range? I'm loving the Eye Fix.

Love M

xxx

Hello there!

As M has said, we're lovers of skincare (and pretty much every product really!) but prevention of wrinkles and the like is very important to us. Finding the perfect skincare that doesn't break you out but provides enough hydration and helps fight the signs of ageing is pretty exhausting to find. There's so many elements!

This Viper Venom serum instantly drew me in because of the name; I'm always attracted to Venom, Bees, Dragon's blood etc and I cannot wait to try the new range from Nip and Fab with Dragon's Blood in, how freaking cool. I've also heard lots about the Glycolic acid products too so will have to try them once I've worked my way through a few more things.

I always get a bit confused with the random names of the patented products in these but they are pretty cool. Liftonin Xpress smooths the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles and Syn-ake is inspired from the venom of the Temple Viper which I assume has a positive effect on skin though it doesn't actually state what it does? Maybe it's the plumping effect.

I love the packaging design, monochrome with an acidic green accent always looks good and perfect for a snake inspired product. The tube is pretty sizeable and will be easy to squeeze out even the last drop.

I've been applying this morning and evening and have noticed a really good hydrating effect on my skin, it drinks it up almost straight away and doesn't leave a greasy residue at all so it's perfect in the morning before a long day and at night. I do find the base requires moisturiser after it as my skin can feel a bit weird otherwise but this isn't an issue for me as this is an additional step before my moisturiser anyway.

The nozzle also makes it easy to dispense the right amount of product and the tube allows you to know how much is left unlike pump style products.

I've been a fan of the results, fingers crossed it is preventing any lines and wrinkles from forming. I'm lucky that i don't have many yet...but I'm sure there are some lurking on my forehead ready to spring out as soon as I forget to apply some hydration!

We've been using this in conjunction with the rollerball Viper Venom Eye Fix which we will also be reviewing soon so check back if you're interested in the full range.


Have you tried many products from Nip and Fab? What's your favourite?

I have SO MUCH on my list!


L xxx

Christmas at Lush

Hey there!

Hope you're having a lovely weekend! Mine started when I went to Lush in Cardiff for the launch of their Christmas range.

I won't say too much, I'll let the photos of the gorgeous sets in beautiful wrapping paper to do the talking for me:

The Jolly holidays set has the most beautiful wrapping don't you think??

The gifts range from £10 to £100 so there really is something for everyone. There's the extravagant All I Want for Christmas priced at £99.95, containing a whopping 21 products, to Festive Cheer for £10.25.

You're a Star is a gorgeous set too, coming in at £42.50 and containing 9 indulgent products with the theme of Hollywood glamour. If I'm being honest, the gift sets are so amazing and the variety of price and contents so impressive that I wouldn't have a clue what I'd choose!

Baked Alaska might be one of my favourite soaps ever; it's beautiful and is supposed to represent the Northern Lights and smells of lemon and grapefruit, perfect for s citrus lover like me.

How beautiful is the Reindeer rock! I love the print on it, so festive.

As if that wasn't enough, there's a whole load of bath bombs and bubble bars to take your fancy! Below shows Northern Lights, and below that shows the bath bomb fizzing in warm water, such beautiful colours:

They even had a pink sparkly drink and mince pies to get you in the festive mood, who doesn't like Christmas treats?? These are the first ones I've seen this year, it must be time to start getting all other festive treats too!

Their range is endless, it's very impressive if a little overwhelming. I'm glad I've got the photos to remind me of all the products as I'd probably forget some gems otherwise!

Of course, everyone knows about Snow Fairy and they had tonnes of bottles everywhere for the people who love to stock up for the year; get in quick! They also had the infamous lip scrubs and lip tints in the Santa range







And how cute are these melting snowmen?! Adorable!

I managed to catch up with the lovely Charli from Charli Blogs who I haven't seen in MONTHS and it was lovely to rummage through everything with her. I might have been responsible for adding a few things to her basket too, oops!



We were given some lovely goodie bags on leaving with a Father Christmas bath bomb, Christmas Eve bubble bar and shower gel, mine was So White. I also picked up Mask of Magnaminty as my skin has been playing up quite a bit lately and I've heard it's really good.

It resulted in a huge pamper session after my gym class this morning and I spent ages in the bath which is really unlike me as a bath hater! Coincidentally my shower has been leaking and the kitchen ceiling is coming through, so it's bath only for me anyway at the moment.



I used the Father Christmas bath bomb this time, it was so fun to see it fizzing around and suddenly it went green! I was very surprised as I hadn't expected it at all, I've only used 1/2 bath bombs before so this was fun!

Are you a lush fan? Do you obsess over which gift set to put on your Christmas list?
Which would you recommend?

I'm going to be browsing through the lists and making my choices; I've also seen some other skincare I'd like to pick up soon!

L xxx

Rimmel Brow This Way Styling Gel

Hey there!

Everyone loves a dupe, and I have been looking for some time for a dupe for Benefit's Gimme Brow. I will put my hands up and tell you that when Gimme Brow came out I wasn't sure....I wasn't convinced it would be any good, that it would last, that it would look any good or that it would be easy to use. I was very wrong and I will admit that!

However the £17 price tag does make me a bit squeamish...it just sounds a bit much. So I've been looking for a product that's as similar as possible....cue Rimmel's Brow This Way.

Brow This Way comes in four different colours, I picked Dark Brown due to my near-black eyebrows but there is also blonde, mid brown and clear available in the range. I think the colour range is great, the colours cover the biggest range of hair colour and is obviously better than the Benefit range which has only two colours.

The packaging is pretty simple but quite chunky, I'm not sure which I prefer out of the two of them to be honest, though it is easier to find the Rimmel product in my make up bag with it being a bit bigger! Gimme Brow feels a lot more dainty and is great for downsizing as it's a staple on my face and comes everywhere with me. So ultimately they are a tie on packaging.

What about the main deal, the brush:

Like the packaging the brush in the Rimmel product is also bigger, it's a lot more like a mascara brush. Gimme Brow has a tiny brush that perfectly shapes and brushes through brow hairs and fills in gaps.
Rimmel does exactly the same but the brush has its negatives with the size. It does comb through really easily and dispenses product evenly but it takes a few goes to get the knack of using a larger brush. The end of the brush holds a lot of product and I seem to knock it onto my face every know and then which is quite annoying! However, once you've used it a few times and got the technique down, here's the results:

They're natural, even and not too defined as I like my brows to look realistic. Working with men and in a not so glamorous occupation I tend not to wear anything that stands out too much so for me natural is 100% key.

I'd say Rimmel's Brow This Way is a contender for the crown for dupe of Gimme Brow, it gives a similar result and lasts just as long. The only issue I can see is the size of the brush, it does take a bit of getting used to, however with the Rimmel coming in at £3.99 and very often involved in a 3 for 2 deal, and the Benefit costing £17.50 it is definitely worth persevering with.

Have you tried Brow This Way? Have you seen any other brow products that could be dupes?

L xxx

Ener-chi

Hello there!

We've got a joint review for you today, courtesy of a lovely spa in Cardiff called Ener-chi. They have two branches in Cardiff, one in Radyr and one in Penarth.

They aim to combine the mind, body and spirit of individuals through the medium of beautifying, healing and relaxing rituals.

They have a wide range of treatments including facials, massage and personal grooming with products from brands such as Dr Haushka, Caudalie, Antipodes and Glamglow.

They sent us a beauty pack for our own little relaxing pamper sessions at home, and before we went out last weekend we put a girly film on and put our feet up..... 

The cute beauty pack contained a Glamglow Youthmud Tinglexfoliate treatment, Caudalie Detox Oil, Dr Haushka Rose Day Cream and a Pukka Cool Mint Green tea for a start to finish pamper set.

We've both heard a LOT about Glamglow and their mud treatments; their results have been raved about and we couldn't wait to get the packet open and onto our faces!

It definitely does what it says on the packet; it tingles! When we first put it on we did a little dance around the room as it tingled and then it settled down and began to dry, here's a quick selfie:

The most interesting part was as it dried, you could see all of our pores! It was really weird but hopefully this means our pores were getting an extra deep clean.

We also boiled the kettle and made ourselves a cup of mint green tea to fully relax, mint teas are one of our favourites and a daily occurrence.

After it had dried we washed it off with warm water and a muslin cloth, it came off quite easily and our skin felt really clean and smooth afterwards.

Next we applied the Caudalie Polyphenol Overnight Detox Oil. As we were going for a night out we didn't apply as much as was stated but the few drops we did apply absorbed really quickly into the skin and didn't leave any trace.




I've used it since and applied the full 6 drops as an overnight treatment and my skin drank it up!

It's really quite nice and I'd definitely look into purchasing it in future, I've heard a lot about Caudalie but this was the first product I've tried.





The tiny vial was so cute but actually held a lot of product as I thought it would only hold enough for one application. But I've used it at least twice since and still have another left.

A few hours later we then applied a Rose day Cream from Dr Haushka, another first for me. Dr Haushka is a brand that I've heard so much about but have never tried anything from. Their packaging and display are beautiful, and the product itself was luxurious.





Allegedly the centrepiece of the Dr Hauschka range the day cream nourishes and protects a wide range of skin types including from redness and irritation which is something that we all experience at some point.

All of these products were lovely to try out and it was lovely of Enerchi to send us samples of their range. After having a full body massage there a few weeks ago I will be sure to visit again, their staff were really friendly and my massage was out of this world!Not only was it a head to toe massage it included a facial too and I was honestly the most relaxed I've ever been (if extremely oily afterwards too!)

You can find Ener-chi's website here, check out their range of treatments and the brands they stock!

What's your favourite treatment? Have you tried anything from Caudalie, Glamglow or Dr Hauschka?

L xxx

Hey all

As L said we decided to treat ourselevs

ourselves to a full on pamper before we went out. Glam glow is something i was so excited to try after hearing so much about it. The fact it fully opened the pores impressed me and my skin was so smooth after wards! It was quite red though but it did go down within the hour.

As our skin was so soft we followed up with the oil. Being oily skinned i was dubious to put this on before a night out so had planned to leave it on for a few hours then cleanse my skin before I got ready. I was so surprised though as my skin just soaked up the oil and was left feeling soft and smooth and not at all greasy. This is now firmly on my wish list.

I love trying new products like this and it wad good to be able to try a little routine. As L said they have two salons in the local area and stock a lot more products including some amazing scented candles and some great gifts. You can also buy online at ener-chi.co.uk.

Happy Friday!

Love M

xxx