Beauty Rehab

Hey all!

Autumn is my absolute favourite month, the leaves changing colour and falling off the trees plus the cold crisp weather, I love it!

It's also a great time to get rid of the old stuff in your own life, so I've been using up as fast as I can. I might start Project Ten Pan soon to try and use some other products up, but I feel like it will take too long!

Go Ape - Crathes Castle

Hey All

Last month C and I headed up to Aberdeen to see some of my friends from school who now live up there. When we got up there we decided we'd go to there local Go Ape. C and I have been before in Margam Park (post here) and loved it so we were happy to go again.

There are multiple Go Ape high rope courses dotted around the UK so I was intrigued to see how this one compared. It all started off the same, you're fitted with a harness and given a safety briefing and  chance to practice how to clip yourself into the different options. You also have 5 areas all ending in a zip line so I guess this is the same through them all. The first is done under the supervision of an instructor and gives you a feel for it then you're let off on your own.

Each section has different bits from step on wood and balancing (or holding onto the wire as you're to scared to balance), to tarzan swings (2 on the course), to tubes to crawl through. There is a lot of variety and at the start of each section there are clear instructions on how to clip yourself in!

I love doing things like this, getting outside, a slight adrenaline rush and a bit of exercise. This was something different to when we went to go ape, one of the zip lines had a skateboard at the start of it you could skate down on!

I was never very good at balance and usually held the wire you're clipped into! 

This is the net you swing into for one of the tarzan swings! I love these, C has the video evidence of an involuntary squeal leaving my mouth on this one! You do hit the net with a bit of force!

I was definitely more practically dressed this time, last time we did the course it was an unplanned day and I did it in a playsuit! oops!! 

This is one of the hardest bits for all of us, I even got a sweat on doing this one, I know delightful info you needed to know! This one also slightly terrified me as I kept thinking if I fell I don't have the upper body strength to pull myself back up! I did it though!

Now to find the next go ape to explore!

Have you been on a high ropes course or go ape before? The two I've been to have been situated in amazing parks which make for lovely walks too so you can really make a day of it.

Love M

xxx

Kiehl's Event - Cardiff

Morning!

Have you tried Kiehls? I've not tried a single product, so when we were invited to an event in the new Kiehls store in Cardiff I obviously couldn't say no.

I didn't know much about Kiehls as a brand but we were given an introductory chat which was really interesting, I had no idea how old Kiehls was nor how it started. Being a scientist I appreciate the fact it started as an apothecary waaaaaaaay back in 1851 and some of the developed products are still used to this day.

When they say the products have been 'expedition tested' they really mean it too - some of these products were used in trips to the top of Everest and in Greenland. They also help a range of charities including HIV/AIDs and local schools, plus they have a recycling program where you can return empty products for new ones by collecting stamps.

Collection Conceal and Light Like a Pro Palette

Hey all!

As everyone else seems to be, I'm totally obsessed with concealing, contouring and highlighting my face. Sometimes you have the time to spend to do the job properly, other times (like Monday mornings....) you don't, and that's where the Collection Conceal and Light Like a Pro Palette comes in.

I picked this up on a random shopping trip when it was on offer, it was £3.99 then and is £5.99 now.

I was attracted to it firstly because of the price but also because of the range of colours that would suit my skin tone. The concealer was really light and the contour not orange, so this was hopeful!



There are 8 shades in the palette in total, all of which are cream concealers. I would say that 2 of these are typical concealers, 2 shades for contour and cream bronzer, 3 for colour correcting and then 1 for under eyes.

Obviously this is taking into account that I am super pale, anyone with a tan or darker skin would be able to use the shades differently to me.



So these are the first four, the top 2 I use as concealers and the bottom 2 I use as the contour/bronzer as appropriate - sometimes if I'm tired I'm totally washed out and the darker shade can look too orange but is a great shade for bronzer and bringing some much needed colour to my cheeks!

Helpfully I have swatched them in rows so the images don't match up - I will have to remember this next time!

Below are the other four shades, top are the reflective pink (undereyes) and yellow contour (good for covering up purple areas - under eyes, veins etc).
Bottom shows the green (good for redness) and blue/lilac (good for yellowing skin tones that may look a bit pasty and dull)





I've been using this the last few weeks with both a Real Techniques Expert Face brush and also a Beauty Blender sponge and have been getting on quite well (for my first cream product palette at least!)

They are swatched below for you to see, it should be pretty obvious which is which but they are arranged 1-4 is the top row, 5-8 is the bottom:





These are swatched quite heavily but blend easily into the skin to correct any issues. Primarily I use the lightest concealer and the pink reflective ones for undereyes and blemishes, the darker concealers I use for contour and bronzing. The others I use as and when depending on how i look in the mirror on that day!

I find they blend well with my make up and do the jobs they were intended for, however they may not last a full day. I've used them for work but by the time I've been to the gym after work there isn't much left, I'd probably get something longer lasting if I was intending to use similar shades for a wedding or full day event but for every day usage they have been great, especially for the price.

I've heard great things about concealer palettes like this and I'm glad I finally picked one up and had a go.

Have you tried concealer palettes like this? What are your favourites? Do you use all shades or just a few?

This is well worth the £5.99 price tag and I'd recommend anyone give this a try!

L xxx

Lush Snowman Shower Jelly

Hey all

As you can probably tell from my last few posts I've been loving the Lush Christmas and Halloween range and have lost a lot of my wages to it!!! Today is the Snowman Shower Jelly. I think shower jellies are a love hate. My first pot I wasn't convinced on then by the second I was hooked. I love them. As expected they are slippery little things but they lather up well and smell delicious so I can't resist them! The snowman is no exception!

The Snowman smells so good! I knew straight away L would love his scent but she's not totally convinced on texture. This little guy is packed with lemon, bergamot and buchu oil. It's got an amazing fresh citrus scent to it.

I tend to break my shower jellies up into smaller pieces so they aren't so big and slippery or you do sometimes end up chasing it around the bath tub! I have had one shoot straight out of my bath!! They really lather well and like all lush products leave a great scent on the skin. Another tip you can see on the tub that I like to use is to freeze a few pieces so that after a long day I can massage it into my legs!!

As an extra bonus the tubs also count to getting a free face mask!

Are you a shower jelly fan?

Love M

xxx

Lush Lord Of Misrule and Snow Fairy Shower Gel

Hi all

Earlier in the week I shared my thoughts on Lord of Misrule Bath Bomb (post here) I love it so much I've been back and grabbed two more since! I think I've always missed the halloween products previously as I'd never tried Lord of Misrule.

The scent isn't one that grabbed me straight away if I'm honest....but at the event they mixed it with snow fairy!! I'm not part of the snow fairy lovers, it's a touch to sickly sweet for me (that doesn't stop me having two bottles in my collection though!!) Mixing snow fairy and lord of misrule though gives my perfect scent. It's sweet but not over powering and has a great peppery undertone!

After smelling the two mixed I had to buy Lord of Misrule and I'm so glad I did. Lush shower gels are more expensive than normal let's not beat around the bush there but for me they are worth it. They're cruelty free, which is something I know only buy, they are so thick and luxurious you only need a small amount so they really last especially if you use a shower puff and the scent really lasts on your skin. Yummy mummy in particular (if it's bought out again for mothers day I can't recommend buying it enough!!) last so long I don't always wear perfume!

Lord of Misrule is only available until 31st Oct so snap it up quick!

Love M

xxx

Miss Patisserie: Rainbow River Bath Ball

Morning all!

Both of us here absolutely love a good bath and spend a lot of our time in Lush and Miss Patisserie - in fact I think between us we have tried most of their ranges which are quite extensive! We couldn't possibly choose between the two and why would you? Both have managed to create amazing products of their own so no doubt we will keep going back for more!

Today's post is about Miss Patisserie's  Rainbow River bath ball. M has previously written a post on this but I still decided I wanted to share my thoughts, her post is here if you'd like to read it. 

Rainbow River is a bath ball with a whole load of beautiful bright colours inside - there's blue, yellow pink and a few hidden extras!

The main scent for this bath ball is lavender to help calm you down but there's also some shimmer too which let's face it, is a great addition to absolutely anything in life. It's like coconut oil, great for anything!

The best thing about this bath ball is the bath art, or bath porn depending on who you are.

The colours and swirls from this fizzing bath ball are absolutely stunning! I bought this just before Glastonbury as a treat for myself when I got home, but I was too tired even for that!

Now were a few months later and Autumn is well and truly here I thought it was about time I reminded myself of how amazing Glastonbury was and how fun and carefree it is. The colours instantly remind me of the festival and I need to go and buy more Rainbow River to get me through the winter months!

Rainbow River costs £3.85 each unless you buy them in a box with a few others like above and then I believe they are 4 for £12 in the box.

It was the store's first birthday this week so there was an event to celebrate. I can't wait to share my new purchases with you as I've got a few newbies!

Have you tried Rainbow River? What's your favourite product from Miss Patisserie?

If you are from South Wales do you regularly pop in to the store or do you prefer to bulk order from the internet?

L xxx

NYX Cosmetics Dark Circle Concealer Corrector

Hello all!

We went to an event at the new NYX Cosmetics stand in Boots in Cardiff and picked up a few new things to try. I'd heard a lot about NYX but hadn't ever tried anything, so when the invite came through I knew I would be spending a small fortune picking up all the things I had heard about.

One of the items I picked up was the Dark Circle Concealer Corrector - I always seem to have some eye bags and having an extra product to help mask these and prime my under eyes for concealer seems to be a good option for me.

The corrector is available in four colours and I chose 'Fair', there is also Light, Medium and Deep.

It contains coconut oil and china clay, these both help to keep the corrector hydrating for the delicate under eye skin and also helps with reflection of light. The orange pigmentation helps to combat the blue tones of the dark circles.

The product comes in a small pot with a screw top lid. Part of me would like this to be in a tube to make it easier to get all of the product out, but I've been using my beauty blender sponge to dip into the pot so I don't get bacteria in it all the time. This means I can use the pointed end to scoop up some product and then apply to my under-eye area with an even layer.

After this I then apply my concealer (currently Collection's Lasting Perfection concealer) and blend this on the top. I find it really covers the under eye bags and the blue tone is significantly less with the corrector.

I find that it needs to be blended very well and sometimes it does crease after 10/15mins of wear, but once it is blended back in again it seems to stay in place for the day.

You can see swatches below, Fair was a very good colour choice for me as it blends in seamlessly almost straight away. I had to lighten the photos so that you could see it! The photos show with and without flash, you can see the peachy tones and the light reflecting particles:

I've been using this a lot over the last few weeks (especially in the run up to my week off!) and it has worked wonders. I'd like to say I'm the kind of person who gets up early and has enough time in the morning to wear a full face, but I don't always manage to apply this as well as everything else.

However I know what product to turn to when I have the time or have an event to go to like a wedding etc and need the extra coverage. For £6.50 I think it is worth every penny and will last me a while.

Here's a picture below with the concealer corrector on:

What do you think of the product on? Have you tried it?

What's your favourite NYX product? I've found so many amazing products so far!

L xxx

Lush Lord of Misrule Bath Bomb Review

Hey All

In Friday's post I was sharing some of the new bits from Lush's Halloween and Christmas range and mentioned I'd bought the Lord of Misrule Bath Bomb on Lorna's recommendation. I couldn't wait to try it out so because the shower gels worked so well together I decided to mix in some snow fairy for some bubbles in the bath and also added a Miss Patisserie bath shard piece as I love how my skin feels after a bath and using these.

The bath bomb itself is bright green and I hadn't seen it in action before so expected it to just be a green bath!! How wrong was I!!! It's made of patchouli oil, black pepper and vanilla and smells amazing. Mixing it with a bit of snow fairy really makes it smell even more amazing as it has a sweet peppery smell to it.

Once the middle hits and amazing pink colour comes pouring out!! I was expecting this so it was a nice surprise! It filled the bath with pink and turned the previously green water a purpley red colour! Definitely more inviting!

I'm hooked on this bath bomb and will be stocking up so I can have a few throughout the year!! Have you tried the Lord of Misrule products?

Love M

xxx

Wraps Wristband Headphones

Good morning all!

I hope you're all having a fabulous weekend. A few weeks ago we were sent some Wraps wristband headphones to try out, and I've been taking them everywhere with me to test them out!

Wraps are new, innovative earphones that can be worn on the wrist when not in use. Not only are they much easier to store and find this way but as they are available in a range of colours and finishes they are also great for the fashion conscious.

There are a few different types available including the Classic, Natural, Core and Limited Edition ranging from £14.99 to £49.99 for the upgraded speakers and metallic finishes.

I was sent the Classic wrap in Crimson colour, there are 6 different colours available in this range. Crimson is a lovely dark red colour and its really flattering on my skin tone so it was a good choice.

I've been using them when on walks and at the gym, the sound quality has been really good and the ear phones themselves fit into my ear very comfortably and stay there, even on the treadmill! This is very important as there's nothing worse than trying to go flat out and losing your favourite song half way through, especially during HIIT!



I really really like that you can wear these earphones - it isn't something I thought i would actually do but the benefit of not having them tangle up in your bag and having to spend 10 minutes sorting them out every time is amazing. I did worry that this may cause them to degrade faster as I always wrap other cables up to stop them tangling and the iPhone cables for example start splitting very soon when you do this.

However as these are made of a braided cable there hasn't been anything like this so far, although I can't speak for 6 months of usage!

It's super easy to wrap them up around your wrist and then slot the headphone jack into the centre of the earphones themselves to lock it up. This means you can adjust it to each person specifically and wrap them around any body part or bag etc, although wrists would be easiest!

I haven't worn them for extended periods of time but have had them on for an hour or so and they haven't unravelled in that time.

The packaging comes with full instructions and also the techy specifications which admittedly don't mean a lot to me but are there if you understand all about sound!

The Classic wraps are £14.99 and come in 6 different colours.These are the most basic and there are others available which include a variety of finishes including beading, limited edition colours and patterns and also the option of a button to allow start/stop functions plus a microphone.

There is even as most bloggers will appreciate, a metallic range including rose gold - the Core collection are definitely the top of the range with upgraded Titanium speakers. The gold or rose gold would be my personal choices and are priced at £49.99.

I've been really impressed with these and although I have tried to find a fault am yet to see a downside to these! I would recommend trying these and seeing how well they fare in comparison to those you have now, these are now a welcome addition to my gym bag and I might get some for my brother for his birthday as he's a techy geek who would appreciate it!

What are your thoughts on wearable earphones? Have you heard of Wraps? Would these solve all of your problems with tangled cables in your handbag like mine??


L xxx