The Body Shop Sweet Lemon Body Butter.

I actually feel ashamed to admit this, but this is the first body butter from the body shop that I have tried. Well, I was once given a sample in a teeny tiny tub with a purchase, but there was barely enough for my hands in that.. and it was coconut flavoured, and I don't like coconut much.

Anyway, that has changed because I got the Sweet Lemon Body Butter* and I have been using it loads for the past month or so.. I am converted. Wow! .. Now I see what all of the hype was about. This is like nothing else, it's like a dreamy delicious fluffy scented dream for your skin. Just yummy!

The texture is thick, yet a little spreads a long way. They are SO hydrating and will smooth the dryest skin. I just love applying this after a shower. It leaves me smelling delicious and feeling so smooth and fresh. I cannot wait to delve into more of these delights from The Body Shop!

Full size body butters are £12.50, but you can get two for £15... Bargain!

What are your favourite flavours?

Liz Earle Colour: Makeup.

If you know me and you have been a reader of my blog for a while then you will have seen me write many positive reviews about Liz Earle products in the past. They sell some of the best skincare products (in my opinion) and some gorgeous body and hair care products too.

Almost a year ago they dipped their toe into the beauty world with their Sheer Skin Tint which I have reviewed and I still absolutely love. But very recently they have released their full makeup collection: Liz Earle Colour.

I have their black eyeliner pencil* and their light reflecting concealer*, which I have been playing with for a few weeks now.

"Enhance the shape and beauty of your eyes with our silky, long-lasting formula. It glides on smoothly and evenly to create striking definition. Enriched with our own natural source vitamin E."

The Eye Pencil is £11 and available in three colours. I have the black one, and wow is it black! This could possibly be one of the blackest pencil liners I have ever used. I didn't expect much from it to be honest and thought it would just be an eye pencil, but it is a highly pigmented, smooth, creamy, long lasting eye pencil. This has been my go to since I got it. If you're in need of a new black pencil, I highly suggest trying this.

 "Our multi-tasking, silky formula blends smoothly over bare skin or make up, to help disguise signs of tiredness and add radiance by brightening dark circles and subtly highlighting cheek and brow bones."

The Light Reflecting Concealer hasn't really wowed me to be honest. I mean, it is a good concealer, it covers and brightens under the eyes good enough for me, but it isn't very light reflecting. The website says you could highlight your face with it, I don't think it reflects light enough for that. That's not to say it isn't a good product, for me it is a decent under eye concealer. It is smooth and creamy and blends nicely without creasing. I also must add that the silver packaging for this is so swish looking and feels very expensive.

Have you tried anything from the Liz Earle Makeup Collection? I am liking the look of the cream blushers and brushes!

First Anniversary Glossybox!

I love this months Glossybox. It has some great products in. See them and my initial thoughts in my video. :)

L'Oreal L'Or Electric Collection.

The latest L'Oreal Collection*, L'Or Electric was recently released in time for the Cannes film Festival. I've been playing with the products for just over a week now and I love them. I love the bright 80's neon inspired shades that are so stand out! Definitely my kind of collection.

The L'Or Electric Collection Consists Of..

• Color Riche Nail Polishes in 811: Magic Croisette, 809: Mystic Blue and 810: Mythical Carpet.
• Color Riche Lipsticks in 402: Electric Fuchsia, 407: Metallic Coral and 404: Prismatic Pink.
• Coleur Infallible Shadows in 039: Magnetic Coral and 037: Metallic Lilac.

Magic Croisette, Mystic Blue, Mythical Carpet

Prismatic Pink, Electric Fuchsia, Metslalic Coral

Magnetic Coral, Metallic Lilac

The Nail Polishes: These are all great pigmented shades that are opaque within two coats. They have the best wide applicator brush ever too (I definitely approve!) they apply smoothly, dry quick and are long lasting too. I will have some proper NOTD's soon.

The Lipsticks: I love the Fuchsia and Prismatic pink.. The coral one scares me slightly! The coral is also creamy and pigmented in texture, the other two are more sheer and wearable and have lots of blue shimmer in them (great for making teeth look white!) I love the packaging and how they feel - they are so hydrating.

The Shadows: Love, love, love these. I already own two of these pressed pigment type shadows. I love both of these colours. The coral is perfect and makes my blue eyes *pop* (hate that term!) and the grey shade is like a dark silver with a really pretty pink/lilac hue. Great for a smokey eye.

This collection in available in stores from 16th May. Check it out if you love brights for Summer. You can check it out here too.

What I'm .. ?

[Credit]

Listening... Right at this moment, Frank Sinatra. I love Gotye's Someone that I used to know, and I am really enjoying listening to classcal music too.

Reading... Ohh... I uh, just finished reading 50 Shades Of Grey. Sigh! I enjoyed it, I started 50 Shades Darker last night. Enthralling reading ladies! Have any of you read it?

Watching... The Voice, I'm enjoying that. Also looking forward to Soccer Aid at the weekend. I hate football, but I love Robbie Williams and a bunch of celebs playing football for charity.

Buying... Ooh, I got a few things the other day. Haul to come. I got a sleek palette, some lip products.. You'll see! :)

Wanting... Too many things to mention.

Trying... To be positive!

Loving... The 50 Shades Trilogy. :) The sunshine.

Planning... Not alot right now. I wish I could say a holiday or something, but no..

Making... An effort.

Cooking... Some food for dinner later, don't know what yet!

Inspired By... My mum. Always my Mum. <3

...

Laters.. ;)

Cover FX Bronzed FX Bronzing Powder - Golden Peach.

I'm not the biggest fan of bronzers.. Well, I like them but they are not an essential part of my makeup. I'm pale and I'm quite happy that way.. although recently I have been enjoying using a product to warm up  my skin. It makes me look a little more alive.

I recently got this Cover FX Bronzed FX bronzing powder* in Golden Peach. I knew before I got it that it wasn't going to be a bronzer for me, but it seemed like a gorgeous blush shade. Well, I wasn't wrong, it's the most gorgeous golden peach! I know that is a lame description, but it is exactly what is say on the tin.

It's beautiful, pigmented, smooth, blendable and has a gorgeous sheen to it that just makes me look healthy and glowing. Perfect for summer and I love it!

It is rather pricey at £25, but you get a whopping compact with 12g of product so this will last for so long! They also have other colours. I'm eager to get the pink one.

Check them out here.

- Anatomicals Body Butter.

I love the quirkyness of the brand Anatomicals, and how all of their products are cutely packaged and described and named in a quirky way. I've recently been using this body butter. Churned Out Nice Again - Italian Lemon and Lavender Body Butter*.

The Italian lemon and lavender scent was one I wasn't sure I would like, but it does infact smell really lovely and fresh. The scent is not overpowering in the slightest, but it lightly lingers on your skin.

The body butter itself isn't as thick as some I have tried - it has more of a lotion texture, but that means a small amount spreads a long way, and I don't have any problem with feeling sticky or greasy afterwards, it soaks right in leaving my skin soft and subtly scented.

You can pick this up online, here. They also sell Anatomicals on ASOS and Beauty Bay, but this is sold out there. It must be a popular choice.

Beauty UK - Paint For Life.

The other day I got an email from the lovely Liloo, who was just putting me in the picture about a new nail polish collection from Beauty UK. I like the brand, especially their polishes and what I read really touched me and made me smile.

About a year ago Beauty UK ran a competition where they asked participants to create a nail polish for the chance to win some Beauty UK Goodies. One girl called Sam requested a range of pink toned polishes which were designed to help Breast Cancer, which her Mother suffered from. BeautyUK went on to develop and release a 'Paint for Life' trio nail boxset with the aim of raising £50,000 for Cancer Research UK.

The Paint for Life boxset consists of three shades of pink nail polish. Each bottle is individually named with ‘hope’, ‘strength’ and ‘love’. From every £5.99 set sold, £1 will be donated directly to breast cancer research.

This is such a great cause and such a touching story that I really wanted to post about it.

You can see more about this, and buy the polishes here.

New CID i-glow - Sirocco.

The New Cid Cosmetics i-glow in Sirocco has been in my collection for a while, but neglected. Not neglected because I didn't like it, but because it is sooo beautiful.

Am I the only one that tries to savour beautiful products and not use them? I am realising how stupidly ridiculous it is, and I am not going to love and use everything as equally as I can.

They Say: These marbelised glow powders are the perfect 'pick me up' for the skin. Using our famous baked formulation for easy, silky smooth application, i - glow has light reflective pigments for mimicking your skins natural radiance. Some of the shades make really lovely blushers as well.

My Thoughts:  I think it almost speaks for itself. It looks natural and blends like a dream, there is no powdery chunky glitterness on my cheek, just a subtle highlight.. a pretty glow. I absolutely LOVE this product. It is a little on the pricy side at £24, but it will last for ages because of how big it is!

You can check it out here. £24

Live The Italian Lifestyle! - Vivi in Stile, Peroni App.

Today I wanted to tell you about an app that I was made aware of in an email the other day. I'm not normally big on apps, and I just have a few random games that I play every so often on my iPod touch. (I dream of one day owning an iPhone!)

This is a brand new app which is called Vivi in Stile Peroni, and it is a stylish Italian lifestyle app which has some really fun features.

One of the top features for me is that you can search through a designer wardrobe of shoes, hats, outfits, purses and put together your favourites, this is great for inspiration, but also in addition you can submit your collection and each month one lucky winner will win their chosen collection items.

I also love that it has great ideas for places where in your area where you can party, dine out, have coffee or go to funky wine bars, so helpful if you are on the go and don't know where is cool. There is an inspiration section, and you can also put your email address in to recieve exclusive offers.

This app is completely free, so you have nothing to lose by checking it out, and it is also available for Apple and Android.

To celebrate the launch of their first mobile app they have created a groundbreaking 3D cube installation which will be touring the UK tvery soon. The cube has some whizz kid cutting edge facial and colour recognition tech that helps to create your own unique Peroni Spring/Summer 2012 Collection.

The cube brings to life the new Vivi in Stile Peroni mobile app allowing you to continue the experience by creating your personalised Spring/Summer 2012 collection with the change to own it.

Here is where it will be, and when:


11-13 May: Manchester Spinningfields
15-17 May: Leeds Henry Moore Institute
19-21 May: Glasgow Merchant Square
23-25 May: Bristol Quakers Friars

Gloosybox For Men, Take Two!

I thought I would give my thoughts (and my boyfriend's) on the latest Glossybox for men.*

The Glossybox for men is a quarterly thing, and is packed with 7 or so luxury samples for the boys! My BF loved the first one, and it really got him into looking after himself a little bit more - which pleases me lots!

This months box is a great one in my opinion, and came at the perfect time, because he has pretty much used up everything from his first box.

The Contents:

• Organic Homme Repair Serum:
• 4711 Cologne:
• The Legends Alum Matchsticks:
• Fab Body Moisturizer:
• Liz Earle (Men) Face Scrub:
• Kyoku Sake Shave Cream:
• Dr Bronner Lavender Hand Sanitiser:

He hasn't got around to trying everything out yet. Namely the matchsticks (which I am so curious about!) and the shave cream and serum. He loves the Fab moisturizer, it is unscented, rich and very moisturizing. He is preffy good and keeping his skin hydrated and likes this. The hand sanitiser is really lovely, I love it more than him (I am OCD about my hands) but he will not let me have it! The scent is lovely and calming and it's not drying to the hands atall. The cologne is teeny tiny, which is a shame because I like how it smells. He says it's a nice aftershave, but will only last two uses, it's a cute size though. Finally, the Liz Earle scrub.. he loves this and seemed quite amazed at how his skin felt after (that is a sure sign of someone who doesn't exfoliate enough!). He uses Cleanse and Polish already, but this is great every so often just to really get some good exfoliation.

You can check out Glossybox here. Get one for your man, I think he'll love it! It's just £15 every 3 months + P&P.

Orly Nail Polishes, Glitter and a NOTD.

I was recently sent three Orly nail polishes of my choice to try out. I've tried Orly once, and that was an ivory french manicure polish from them, which I love and lasts really well.

So I was very excited to try some more from them. Above you can see my selections.. Green with envy, Shine on crazy diamond, and Charged up. I love them all, and I didn't realise it at the time but the green and purple look very similar to the two new shades in the Illamasqua collection, no? .. I must have liked them together and without realising chose these!

Another great thing about Orly polishes is that they are a whopping 18ml for a reasonable price, and they have a great shade range! Check them out here.

So, I have them swatched on my nail wheel and a quick NOTD with Charged up..

I feel the swatches look much neater on here and it's easier to photograph. As you can see both shades are vivid and glossy. I used two thick coats of both polishes, but I found that on my natural nail I was better off using three coats, which is a bit of a pain because I am so impatient when it comes to my nails, but a quick dry topcoat sorts that out.

I love the vividness of the shades and the polishes on my natural nails last really well on me, I would say a good 3-4 days (That is good for me) without any topcoat.

Here is my NOTD with Charged up. Green with envy will be coming soon!

Last but not least, 'Shine on crazy diamond' .. How could I not choose this? I am a glitter girl and this really caught my eye. It's gorgeous, however not as glitter packed as I had hoped. It would take a few coats to get it opaque, but the glitter is fine and smooth. In my nail swatch I used one coat (I have no idea of the base colour. I just wanted something dark.)

I love the rainbow multi colour gorgeous sparkle so much!

Orly are definitely a new fav brand for me, I will definitely be checking out some more shades for Summer!

You can buy them online for £7.50.
- Charged Up
- Shine On Crazy Diamond
- Green With Envy

Review: Cover FX Eye Prep.

I have recently been testing out this priming product from Cover FX called Eye Prep FX*. This is the first thing I have ever tried from this brand and I wanted to give you my thoughts.

First off, it is paraben, oil and fragrance free, which is great.. and here is what Cover FX say about it:

This smoothing, silicone-free primer immediately hydrates and reduces undereye puffiness. Formulated to strengthen the skin around the eye dermal structure, this primer firms and rejuvenates while lightening dark undereye circles. It also doubles as a primer bonding to concealer and eye shadow for even, color-true, long-lasting wear.

My Thoughts: I reaaaaaally like it! All of those a's in really should emphasise that! .. Seriously, it's good, and not really for priming my eyelid, but for primind under my eyes, not something I ever used to do, until I got this! It feels so soothing when you apply it and just really creates a smooth base to apply concealer on top of. It's like a magical eye cream/under eye soother/smoother and it has become part of my every day makeup. It works great on the eyelids too, but I didn't find it helped my eyeshadow hold for as long as my trusty urban decay primer potion does.

What do you love from Cover FX? Have you tried this?

Nails: Spangle, Crackle.. Wow!

Thiese are my current nails, and I wanted to share them with you.

It was weird, but yesterday I was going through some of my polishes and I saw a GOSH polish simple named 'Silver'.. I knew I had never tried it, so went for it. I was instantly wowed, it was like silver foil and looked sooo pretty!

I went about doing a few things and managed to slightly smudge the thumb and ring fingers (I hate, hate, hate waiting for polish to dry) and so I grabbed the Barry M nail effects and put a layer of that on. It has been ages since I used the old crackle effect, but I still like and I think it looks great on top of a metallish polish.

So there you go. Spangly Crackle! What do you think of them?