Collection Lip Liner in 5: Damson

Morning!

I've been meaning to write this post for a veeeeeeerrrrry long time, as I've been wearing this Collection Lip Definer all winter - well since October time seeing as we haven't really had much cold weather yet though I hear it is making an appearance this weekend...

If I'm being honest with you all, I never used to see the point in a lip liner. But ever since coming across the Urban Decay liners and realising how much better lipstick looks with them I've been sold - the Mia Wallace was my first and it's a staple that i use often now. However at £13.50 they aren't always something that you can splash out on.

The Collection Lip Definers come in at a super cheap £2.79 which is absolutely perfect when it may be a colour you are testing out or something you might not wear very often.

I've mentioned before that I'm still in the process of recovering financially after buying a house - if I'm honest I don't think that ever really happens but Urban Decay is certainly on the 'win the lottery' list for now. So I picked up Damson from Boots one day and couldn't wait to give it a go to compare the results.

First off I would say that the twist up mechanism makes life super easy, you never run out as you just need to twist up more so it's great for on the go. The only downside I can foresee is when you have one of those really precise lines to be drawn which may need the help of a sharpener which this one can't use, but you can create a sharper edge by drawing at an angle, you just may need some practice.

After this I couldn't see too much difference in the pigmentation between UD and this offering from Collection, I was really impressed by how the colour turned out and you could definitely layer it for a more dramatic look.

See the results for yourself below:

In fact, the only downside I could see to the lip definer at all was the longevity. It lasted very well, impressively actually considering its tiny price but it did start to look a little patchy and dried my lips out faster than the UD ones. To me though this isn't really a downside because I tend to use the lip liners to line my lips and give a better shape before applying lipstick, which I would no doubt reapply anyway, and could replace with lip balm if necessary once my lips were stained.

I would definitely recommend these to anyone who asked! After looking into the range a bit further so I can pick up more of them I'd have to say I'm disappointed purely because there only seems to be 3 of them.....you what?! Collection! What on earth are you doing?!
Everyone needs more than three lip liners....tut tut!

I think they need to get a move on and make more, I can't say I wouldn't buy the Urban Decay 24/7 liner as a treat for myself but I would certainly pick up these without a second thought!

What do you think of the Collection Lip Definers? Have you tried the other shades? Do you wish they also had a few more shades to add?

I imagine with the Kylie Jenner trend for super size lips they'd make a small fortune if they had more!

L xxx

Lush Frozen Bath Bomb

Hey All

Another Lush Review today. As I'm sure you can tell by now L and I are massive lush fans. I spent way more than I should in the Lush Sale but probably won't share much of that on the blog as not much of it is still available. 

Today I wanted to share the Frozen bath bomb. I first saw this when we went to a lush event and just had to pick it up. Not only because of the name but it smells great too. It contains Grapefruit, Rose and Neroli oil so smells really fresh!

I love bath bombs that totally transform the colour of the bath and this is one of them. As soon as it hits the bath it fizzes away to an amazing brilliant blue colour. 

How cute is my new pug bath plug my mum got me. I didn't realise he was upside down at first!

As well as turning the bath brilliantly blue it also leaves it sparkly silver. The perfect tribute to Frozen!! And although the bath is glittery you don't come out looking like a disco ball or finding the sides of the bath covered in it!

One last thing I loved about this was how soft my skin felt after. I don't know if it's from the oils it contains but my skin felt lovely after this! This is one I'll be repurchasing!

Have you tried the frozen bath bomb yet?

Love M

xxx

Miss Patisserie - Queen of Hearts Bath Bake

Hello all!

At CSI we regularly wander the shops of Cardiff, but only occasionally do we go into the arcades which is a shame as they have lots of wonderful shops.

Over Christmas me and my mum wandered the arcades in search of gifts that were a bit more special and we came across Miss Patisserie.

Miss Patisserie was created by Charlotte Ridgwell in 2009. She broke her leg and was forced to take 6 weeks off work and decided to keep herself busy by making bath bombs for family and friends. They loved them so much that she took them to craft fairs and Miss Patisserie began!

During my visit I couldn't resist but pick a few things up for myself. The Bath Bakes are beautiful, and the Queen of Hearts one was exactly what I was looking for - even though I didn't know it!

How beautiful is it!!

The Queen of Hearts Bath Bake contains notes of pomegranate, citrus zest and blackcurrant with a few extra floral scents thrown in for good measure.

What I love about these bath bombs is not only the beautiful cupcake design, but the fact the bath bakes work as a cake and icing - two separate parts with two separate jobs. The cake is the bath bomb itself, and the icing is a scrub to be used as an exfoliator once the bath bomb has fizzed away. It's a genius idea and it works so well.

Baths are not a regular thing for me but I was really excited to use this one. Peeling off the cupcake wrapper was a little weird, but only because normally when I do this it's to eat the cake and I certainly couldn't do that this time!

I absolutely love the design though, pink and swirly icing and bright red glitter. I'm like a lot of people and I love Alice in Wonderland, I have multiple copies of the books and many prints and handmade designs on the walls of my house, so this bath bake is very much appealing to me, don't you agree?




Below is a picture of the bath bake fizzing around the water, I loved that it stays upright whilst it spins around and the icing on the cake stays on the surface. My bathroom smelled absolutely wonderful, and as my house is rather small so did my entire house after I had finished in there!
I'm not a huge fan of strong scents as i seem to have a sensitive nose and if I smell something really strong i can't smell anything else for hours afterwards - I could smell this all evening.



So it fizzed around like a charm and smells amazing, what about the scrub? This was also pretty impressive as i expected it to crumble in my hands straight away and not be much use, but I managed to use the entire of it without it crumbling into mush on my feet, legs, knees, elbows, arms and actually my entire body and still had some left for my shower the next day. It wasn't abrasive and felt like a fine powder when it did crumble, I was very impressed.

Generally as my first product from Miss Patisserie I am very Impressed and especially for £4.50. As a Welsh girl I also feel quite patriotic about the fact they are made locally in Cardiff!

Have you visited the shop too?? I love it and have visited there twice since, if you're lucky enough you will also meet Charlotte and she is so lovely to chat to!

I have a few more things to try including a perfume, face mask and a candle and will be sure to post them soon. In the meantime you can check out the website by clicking here, and join me in making a huuuuuuuuuge wishlist!

Bath bomb selection box is next for sure - even I have vowed to work my way through them all and try out the Bath Pastilles too, they look just like macaroons!

L xxx

Diorshow Iconic Overcurl Mascara Set

Hey All

Towards the end of last year we were invited along to the Dior counter in Debenhams to see the Launch of their Christmas range (post here). Annoyingly buses meant I was a little late so missed some of the demonstration but L told me that this mascara was applied and it looked amazing. I'm a total mascara junkie and as I hadn't tried any Dior mascaras yet I decided it was time to change that.

I love when companies do mascara sets that come with something else. I usually treat myself to one of the Lancome one's that come with either mini mascaras of eye make up removers. I love that this one comes with a little eyeshadow set. I'm a make up on the go type of girl (which translates to I'm too lazy to get up early in the morning so I'm the person doing my make up on the bus!)

The colours in the mini palette are so handy for everyday looks and have all the colours you could need. The brown in the middle is the perfect crease colour and the dark black is great for lining the eyes. I'm really impressed with the quality of these and can't wait to try more Dior eyeshadows! A girl can never have enough right?

So onto the mascara! I love the packaging, it's metal esque simple and feels weighty which I like as it makes me think more high end. Black and silver is always a great combo and looks classy as I'd expect from Dior. I love the brush. I'm a traditional mascara brush type girl over plastic any day. The wand also has a slight curl to help lift those lashes up!

C has a new even fancier pants camera now so I managed to recruit him to take photos for me so he could play with his new lenses. My lashes naturally are fine, fair and have a slight curl.

The thing I love about this mascara is how black it is. I love super dark lashes. This is after one coat of mascara. As you can see my lashes are well separated and slight more lifted up from the roots.

After two coats the lashes as super dark, with a good amount of volume and thickness to them. I love how thick my lashes look at the roots.

I can see from the photos it makes my lashes look nice but I really can't put my finger on why I'm not loving this mascara. I don't know if I just wanted more. I felt like this about YSL shocking (review here) at first though so think it may just need to be one that grows on me . I personally find I prefer a mascara once they've been used a bit so they aren't as wet and new. (is that just me?)

This set is still available from Debenhams here for £25 which basically means the eyeshadow palette is free as it's £25 for the mascara alone!

Have you tried Diorshow Iconic Overcurl? Did you love it? 

Love M

xxx