Barry M Nail Paint - Pink Flamingo!

Available From - Barry M Online and In store soon.
Price - £2.95
Shade - #305 - Pink Flamingo

I love all of the Barry M nail paints so when I was able to try this gorgeous new shade from them I couldn't refuse!

As soon as the postman arrived with this I snatched it from him and raced to paint my nails! :)

As with all Barry M Nail paints it glides on really nicely and has a lovely creamy matte look to it. It is a gorgeous bright coral/pink/flamingo colour, It looks so much nicer on the nails than it does in the bottle too, it is almost neon but not quite and to me it's the perfect shade for summer. It's quite difficult to describe just how gorgeous it is, but here are a couple of photographs so you can have a look.

(The first was taken inside and the second outside)




It dried really quickly and I applied two coats. I was quite surprised as one coat was fairly opaque, but the second one just made it perfect!

So, Bazza M have done it again, another amazing unique shade to add to their many others! - I absolutely love this nail polish!

.. What are your Barry M faves?

*Monday August 3rd Update*

I have been wearing this polish for the past 3/4 days, and I forgot to put a top coat on (Naughty me) But it has lasted, really well. I've only just started to notice chipping. I am so impressed! The colour is atill lovely and vibrant too.

*Big Thumbs Up!*
 ♥

The Body Shop Tea Tree Range.

A while ago I was offered the chance to try some goodies from the Body Shop.. I was asked what sort of things I would be interested in and I said the skincare, because of the trouble I have with my spots.

I received a large package with lots of tea tree goodies in and a couple of things from the Camomile range (Click Here to see what I thought of them). I was so excited and couldn't wait to try them all out!



So for the past 3/4 weeks I have been using these products and I must say, I am impressed with them all - although some more than others.

So here is a list of what I will be reviewing today :


Tea Tree Oil Facial Exfoliator -£5.00
Tea Tree Oil Facial Wash -£4.50
Tea Tree Oil Face Mask -£6.50
Tea Tree Oil Blemish Stick -£4.00
Tea Tree Oil Blemish Fade Night Lotion -£6.00
Tea Tree Oil Hand Cleanse Gel -£2.40

All available from The Body Shop online, or in store.

I think I will start with my faves and finish with the least fave, not that I actually hated any of these!

#1 The facial wash. I loved this, It is a thick green gel and you don't need much at all, It lathered up nicely and once I had rinsed it off I felt a lovely cool tingly feeling on my face, but my favorite thing about this is how amazingly soft it left my skin feeling. I really noticed difference after a few weeks use of this too, along with the exfoliator - My skin just felt much better and it prevented a new spot from forming into a monstrosity! I would definitely repurchase this, it is a large size and a good price.

#2 The Exfoliator. When I first used this I was a little disappointed because it didn't have loads of grit in it, just a few bits here and there, and I didn't feel much like it was getting into my skin and cleaning it well - I was comparing it to the St Ives Scrub though, Which is wrong!) .. However, this ended up being used as part of a tea tree regime on my skin. I would use the facial wash for two days, and then this on the third, and so on. I felt it gave me a deeper clean and along with the facial wash really helped clear my skin up. It left my skin feeling super soft and stopped it getting so oily too.

#3 The Face Mask. This was love at first use! A thick green cream mask - I first used it one evening when I was having a really really bad spot-fest. I slathered it on (you don't need much) and I left it on for about half an hour, It felt tingly and lovely on my face and made my skin feel really fresh and clean afterwards. The next morning my painful spots that were coming up had gone down and were pretty much pain free, I was uber impressed! Since then I have used this once a week, and I love how it makes my skin feel.

#4 The Night Lotion. I used this each night - without fail. It is in a nice handy pump bottle and I just used a couple of small pumps all over my face and neck. It gave the same cool/tingly feeling and always left my skin feeling really nice and smooth.

#5 The Hand Sanitizer. This stuff is great, a nice small bottle - easy to travel with too! I always have it in my handbag (I am quite obsessive about having clean hands) and I felt it did a great job if cleansing and leaving my hands lovely and fresh.

#6 The Blemish Stick. Hmm, I wasn't that impressed to say that this was something I had always wanted to try. It is a gel in a lip-gloss style tube with a doe foot applicator. I dabbed it on and it gave a nice cooling sensation, but I honestly never felt it was doing that much unfortunately. I also think the way it is used directly onto spots from the applicator is a little unhygienic, So I would dab it on my finger, and then onto my face. I don't think I'd bother with this again, pure tea tree oil is the best thing to dab on a spot in my opinion. (Which you can also get from the body shop)

So there you have it, all in all some GREAT products, most of which I will continue to use in my fight for clear skin!

 ♥

Review : Body Shop Camomile Range.

I have recently been trying out a couple of skincare products from the Body Shop Camomile Range.

Here is what I have been trying :

Camomile Gentle Eye Make-Up Remover
Camomile Soothing Eye Serum

They are both available from The Body Shop online and in store.

So let me begin with the two Camomile products. I was excited to try these as I am always on the look out for an amazing make-up remover! I liked this remover, but it wasn't GREAT, I personally prefer to use a creamier/gel type textured eye make-up remover for my eye make-up and this is a liquid, like water. I found that to remove my eye make-up I had to use quite a lot of it to totally saturate a cotton pad, and I probably had to do it twice if I was wearing more make-up for an evening out. I do however love how soothing it felt on my eyes, I didn't rub to hard (I never do) and it left me with a really nice cooling sensation around the eye area.

So now, onto the eye cream! - I do really love this, I have been using it loads. It has the same soothing cool effect as the make-up remover but it is more of a thick cream consistency. I just dabbed it around my eye area morning and night and it reduced my puffiness within minutes and I also felt like it tightened the skin slightly, which I liked. The cream-like texture of the eye serum is how I wish the eye make-up remover had been, then I wouldn't have had to use so much and I feel it would remove my make-up much nicer.

 ♥

My Weekend Away Look!

So, last weekend I went to Manchester for the weekend with my BF and we met up with a few friends we haven't seen in a while and had an all round good time! .. I just thought I would post a pic of me on the Friday night (The Saturday night was a bit of a washout, it poured down!)

I wore my new pink, black and grey block dress which I love! So I did my make up to match with some huge lashes, I honestly didn't realise how noticeable they were until I saw the pics!



I used Elf 'Partier' mineral eyeshadow on the lid and Collection 2000's Illusion in the crease.

Here is a closer pic :



What do you think? Glam, or just dragtastic? :)



♥

Konad NOTD

So, I've had the Konad nail kit for a while now and haven't played with it as much as I'd have liked to, So earlier on I got it all out and decided to play!

Before now I have always used normal nail polishes with it, and I thought the result was pretty decent, but someone once told me I would think different when I used the 'Special Polish' .. And oh boy, I did! The Special Polish makes so much difference, the consistency is better and it is much more opaque.

So, I just did a simple black nail and then used the white special polish and a small leopard print-ish pattern. (I don't remember which nail plate off the top of my head, but will let anyone who is interested know!) The result is really good, and I love how visible the white is on top of black polish.


*Click to enlarge*

I know they are not the neatest, but I didn't spend too long painting the black on, and I need to clean up the edges with a cotton bud yet. But all in all I think it looks nice, and pretty effective.

What do you guys think? What are your fave nail plates?


- Products Used-
Barry M Base and Top Coat.
Barry M Black Polish (Two Coats).
Konad Special Polish - White.

 ♥

Smokey - Face Of The Day!

Just a real quick and simple face of the day today! .. I rarely do these, so thought I would start :)

This is a really quick easy smokey eye - Using hardly anything. I honestly just wanted to play with my Elf Mineral Eyeshadow in 'Partier' again, Cos' I love it! <3 (Click to enlarge)

What I used ..

Face -

L'Oreal True Match Minerals (Lightest Shade)
Primark TTFNxx Light Conceaer
Boots 17 Blusher - China Pink
Prestige Skin Minerals - 01 Pure Shimmer

Eyes -

UDPP
GOSH - Love That Ivory Shadestick
Elf Mineral Eyeshadow - Partier
Stargazer - Matte White
Barry M - Black Kohl Pencil
Avon Color Trend - White Kohl
L'Oreal Carbon Black Liquid Liner
Maybelline Collosal Lash Mascara

Lips -

Natural Collection - Apple Blossom
Avon Dazzle Diamonds Gloss

Amazing Pigments - Cheap!

"Pigments.. For cheap?!"

I hear you cry!


Well Yes, you got it!

Just take a little look at these babies :



How frikkin fabulously colourful do they look? .. .. .. I know, Right?!

Where did I get them? .. Wait for this!


P R I M A R K !!

Yes, that place that sells loads of pretty cool stuff for a bargain price. They seem to have done away with the old 'Opia' Make up range that they had and got loads of brand spanking new stock in, named 'Primark Essentials'.

They seem to have changed their whole make up and beauty section, They have new products galore. I was so impressed when I first saw these but only bought one packet to start with (You get two in each packet!) In all honesty I was super sceptical because they were only £1.00 for two. They had a pretty good colour range, So I got one and thought I'd try it before I got anymore.

Well, all I can say is wowzers, they are so good for the price! Mega pigmented and nice and shimmery (Before you ask, No - They do not have chunky glitter in - as you will see from the pictures you are soon to see..)

So I got my butt back down there and bought all the colours they had, They have 5 different packets, each with two dusts in, Some of the colours are similar, but for £1.00 that isn't a huge deal.

So, onto the goods.. They are in a Barry M Dazzle Dust size jar, but the packaging is totally plain and unfancy, with just a small 'eyeshadow dust' sticker on the lid..

Like this :



Anyway, Let me show you what I have, and some swatches :) (Click images to enlarge)

*The Berry one is my absolute fave, such a rich gorgeous colour*


*I love these too, so bright and summery!*


*The Gold and Violet compliment each other so well*


*These are so lovely for summer too, Pretty pastels*


*The first two I got were these, and they sold them all to me!*


So there you have it.. My little rave about the fabulous new Primark eye dusts! .. I forgot to mention, they are not named either - But I don't think it matters. I just gave them the names in the pictures.

I also have a couple of other things from the 'Primark Essentials' range which are good. The quad palletes are nicely pigmented. I may do a post about them later too.

What do you think of these, have you tried them? .. Will you be trying them?

 ♥

TAG : All About Me !!

Me :

Name: Sophie
Nicknames: Sophster
Birthday: 18 Dec
Place of Birth: Coventry
Zodiac Sign: Sagittarius
Male or Female: Female
Occupation: Make up obsessed girl, Looking for a job in Make up/Beauty!
Residence: Leeds
Screen Name: Melovemakeup


Your Appearance :

Hair Colour: Brunette-ish
Hair Length : Just past my shoulders
Eye colour: Blue
Best Feature: My Eyes
Height: 5ft 8"
Braces?: Nope
Glasses?: Yes, I need them for some things
Piercing: Lots
Tattoos: Three
Righty or Lefty: Righty

Your 'Firsts' :

First best friend: Elaine Sherman
First Award: Something at school, I don't know what
First Sport You Joined: Tennis, I think!
First Real Vacation: Blackpool possibly, I'm not sure!
First Concert: Craig David?! (I think)
First Love: Andy

Favourites :

Movie: Dirty Dancing
TV Show: The X Factor, Britain's Got Talent (Yeah, Reality TV - You with me?!)
Colours: Black and Pink
Song: I can't choose!
Candy: Oooh, Umm.. *Thinks*
Sports to Play: I'm not a sporty girl!
Restaurant: Via, Manchester (Currently my fave)
Store: That's a hard one :)
School: I hated school, I don't have a favourite
Book: Twilight, Martina Cole
Magazine: Heat, New, Glamour
Shoes: I have too many to choose from

Currently :

Feeling: A bit YUK!
Single or Taken: Taken
Eating: Nothing
Drinking: Pepsi Max
Typing: This!
Online: Yep
Listening To: Nothing other than my BF clicking the mouse on the PC
Thinking About: What other blogs I need to get done
Wanting: Chocolate
Watching: Nothing right now
Wearing: Black cropped trousers and a pink top

Future :

Want Children? I don't know
Want to be Married: One day
Careers in Mind: Successful Make up artist
Where do you want to live?: Near everyone I love


Have you ever :

Kissed a Stranger: When I was in my teens, Yeh
Had Alcohol: Indeed
Smoked: Yes
Ran Away From Home: No
Broken a bone: No *Touch Wood*
Got an X-ray: I'm unsure!
Broken Someone's Heart: I think so, but not sure
Broke Up With Someone: Yeah
Cried When Someone Died: Of course
Cried At School: Er, probably!

Do You Believe In :

God: Yes
Miracles: I think I do, Yep
Love At First sight: Yes
Ghosts: Yes
Aliens: Yes
Soul Mates: Yup!
Heaven: Yes
Hell: Hmm!
Kissing on The First Date: Hell Yeah!
Yourself: Not enough :|

... I Tag :


TalluluhBella
Becky / Sirvinya
Dressjunkie
Magpie Sparkles
Caroline
Mizz Worthy
This Modern Panda

And of course, anyone else who wants to do it :)

♥

L’Oréal’s policy on animal testing.

I recently mentioned something about the new 'Pure Active' range on one of my videos recently and got a comment from one of my views saying something about how it was too bad that L'Oreal tested on animals.

I never noticed the comment on my video until I was made aware of it by Naomi from Immediate PR who informed me that L'Oreal DO NOT test on animals, and that of course, people saying otherwise is bad press. I absolutely agree with her on that - She also sent me a document with all of the details, so I thought I would post them here for those of you that are interested and that have always thought that L'Oreal test on animals.

Well, great news! They Don't!

Here is the document I was sent :

Summary

L’Oréal voluntarily stopped animal testing on its entire range of products in 1989.
We are totally committed to a future without tests on animals and continue to make significant investments in research aimed at finding valid alternatives. We comply with all EU and national laws in ensuring the absolute safety of our products. These are positions we share with The Body Shop, whose policy of not using any ingredients that have been tested or retested on animals for cosmetics purposes since the end of 1990 remains unchanged.

L’Oréal voluntarily stopped using animal testing for the evaluation of its entire range of finished cosmetic products in 1989. It was possible to do this due to the considerable time and effort we have invested for over two decades including developments of databases on ingredient toxicity profiles, and the results of a large-scale programme carried out over several years to develop appropriate in vitro methods such as Episkin. Moreover, we have also co-operated with our competitors in this common objective.

We are totally committed to a future without tests on animals. We comply with all EU and national laws in ensuring the absolute safety of our products. These are positions we share with The Body Shop whose policy of not using any ingredients that have been tested or retested on animals for cosmetics purposes since the end of 1990 remains unchanged.

The industry and many opinion formers believe that this common objective of eradication of animal testing for safety purposes can only be totally achieved through research, development and validation of alternative methods and approaches. L’Oréal has invested more than any other company in this endeavour during the last 25 years. This is a fact that was recognised and endorsed by Anita Roddick, the founder of The Body Shop and campaigner against animal testing for cosmetics.

Some of our achievements to date:

· In the early 1980s, L’Oréal developed Episkin - reconstructed human skin models complete with a barrier function. These have since been routinely used to obtain a better understanding of the biological mechanisms of skin and to evaluate the efficacy and tolerance of our products. Some of these models can be used to study skin pigmentation or its immune response.

· A specific protocol, using the company’s reconstructed epidermis model Episkin, has been validated by the European Centre for Validation of Alternative Methods (ECVAM) for the purposes of evaluating skin irritancy and corrosion. This method provides a full replacement for the corresponding animal test.

· Our researchers have also developed the first epidermal model containing Langerhans cells which play a decisive role in the skin’s allergic response. Having been a pilot for a European Commission programme, similar models are currently being studied as alternative methods to skin allergy tests.

· The recent acquisition by L’Oréal of the tissue engineering company, Skin Ethic, is further testimony to our continued commitment to the development of alternative methods to replace animal testing.



In Europe, the safety of cosmetic products is regulated by the European Cosmetics Directive, which is implemented in the UK by the Cosmetic Products (Safety) Regulations. This legislation specifically prescribes the tests that all ingredient suppliers must carry out on every chemical substance, whether old or new. Some of these tests may have involved animals. Companies manufacturing products containing chemical substances, without any exception, are only legally permitted to use ingredients that have undergone these compulsory safety tests at some stage.

However, the Seventh Amendment of the EU Cosmetics Directive states that in March 2009 all testing on all cosmetic ingredients will be banned by law across the whole of the EU and any cosmetic product containing ingredients tested on animals will be banned from being placed on the market. Only a limited amount of tests assessing the systemic safety of ingredients will be exempt from this ban, but the exemption only applies for an extra 4 years. In other words, after 2013 products containing ingredients tested on animals will be banned from sale. We continue to work with the Commission, the industry and research organisations to develop, ahead of the above cut-off dates, new alternative methods and approaches in several fields of toxicology where they are still lacking.

Despite the progress made to date, the Commission, the industry and research organisations face the major challenge of developing new alternative methods and approaches for the safety assessment of chemical ingredients in several fields of toxicology where they are still lacking, and ensuring their validation and acceptance by competent authorities. L’Oréal is thus an active member of the European Partnership for Alternative Approaches to animal testing (EPAA) led by the European Commission, and we are committed, in our field of expertise, to progressing and promoting this programme.

♥

I LOVE Soap & Glory!

Product - Soap & Glory Clean On Me - Creamy Clarifying Shower Gel.
Price - £5.00
Size - An absolute whopping 500ml
Available From Boots (Click Here)


What the website says ..

Already a wildly popular pick amongst the 'love-to-scrub-up' club, this super-sized Soap and Glory Clean On Me® shower gel has a bonus, built in body lotion, so you can get clean, smooth, sexy skin simultaneously.

With their cool retro style packaging and quirky names, I fell in love with soap & glory as soon as I received some of their products as gifts.

I could not wait to try the huge bottle of 'Clean on Me' body wash, with built in body lotion!

First of all, I know the price might be off putting when you think that you can get a Radox shower gel for about £2.00 - but this really is a HUGE bottle and will last a LONG time, I swear! I have had mine for months and am not even halfway down the bottle yet.

It is a pump bottle and you only need a small amount (2-3 pumps) and it lathers up into a lovely creamy texture and smells absolutely divine too. The smell lasts for ages on your body too!

This really leaves my skin feeling silky smooth (that'll be because of the body lotion built in!) and I love that I don't have to worry about faffing about applying a body lotion afterwards and then waiting for it to soak in!

I will most definitely be repurchasing this when I run out, It is my HG body wash and I don't let anyone else use it, it's all MINE! *evil laugh*!

So if you are looking for a divine body wash that leaves you smelling yummy and your skin feeling amazing, try this. I am sure you will love it as much as I do!

- I have so many other S&G products from sets I have gotten as gifts that I haven't eve used yet. I think I'm gonna try them all out soon and if they amaze me like this has, I will be sure to let you all know!

On a final note, what S&G products do you love or hate? Any recommendations?

 ♥

20 % off Barry M online.

Hey all,

For a great discount at BARRY M enter the code MCLUB20 when ordering.

Nice one, huh? Now you can get all those gorgeous goodies you're after.

Be quickly though, offer ends July 13th.


 ♥

Look At Me! - Clynol Review.

For the past few weeks I have been using some of the 'Clynol - Look at Me' range. As soon as I saw the packaging for this range I was instantly attracted, with it's hot pink shiny finish, I love it!

I have been using the 'Look at me, Smoothing Styling Cream' and the 'Look at me, Delicious Boosting Hairspray' ..





So, let me tell you about the Look at me, Smoothing Styling Cream :

Price : £6.50 (Buy Here)

This is what the website says ..

Don't let your hair tease you - control unruly hair and rebel ends and step into the spotlight! This unique styling cream smoothes curly, wavy or straight hair into hair like silk. Heat activated styling balm to prepare the hair to reflect light and to give an irresistible smooth as silk appeal. Hold Factor 2 Shine Factor 1

My Thoughts .. I absolutely love this stuff! <3 .. I have to admit, I was a little put off at first with it being heat activated, and me not liking to blow dry my hair really, because of how frizzy it goes - But it does say that it smooths, and so I went for it. Well, the results were great. I just applied a small blob of this into my hands, rubbed them together, and distributed it through my hair - It has a delicious scent to it as well, kind of coco-nutty but it is not over powering. Anyway, I then blow dried my hair with my head tipped upside down brushing through it with my fingers - It was so easy to do! My hair normally hates the hair drier and completely tangles and there is never a chance of getting my fingers through it, let alone a comb! But this stuff is great, it made my hair so soft and my fingers were just gliding through my silky soft locks. Once it was dry I combed it though, preparing to straighten it but decided not too! I liked how this has made my hair look. It still had a wave to it (It always will unless I get the GHD's out!) but it looked nice, nice and smooth and really shiny. So I didn't straighten it, I left it natural and even received some compliments on how nice and healthy it looked. The one thing I will say though, Is to be careful when you apply it, you really don't need too much otherwise your hair will go greasy quickly, and avoid putting it near to the roots of your hair. You only need such a small amount that I am sure this 100mls will last me a while, and I will be getting some more when I have run out! Loves it.

Now, let me tell you about the Look at me, Delicious Boosting Hairspray :

Price : £7.45 (Buy Here)

This is what the website says ..

Be irresistible - make sure your style lasts all night. This long lasting finishing spray fixes your style in place and adds natural shine. Hold Factor 3 Shine Factor 1

Pretty short and sweet, huh?

Well so is my review! This is a lovely hairspray, It smells good and it does the job, it holds the hair in place without feeling rock hard and sticky, and it brushes out so easily. I had never used a 'higher end' hairspray before really, I always opted for a cheaper tin from my local chemist, but you can really tell the difference when you use a quality one.

I really love how it holds the style but the hair still looks natural and moves naturally, I also think it adds volume, I tip my head upside down and give a good spritz of this and I have great voluminous locks! Oh, and I also love the nozzle design, It keeps the spray going where you want it, rather than all over the place. I really love this hairspray, the packaging is pretty, it smells good and it holds well!

If you would like to purchase either of these products, or anything else from the look at me range, click here.

 ♥

Nails!

Another small update on the konad stuff. I have been enjoying experimenting with it but still haven't got round to actually using the special polish, which I know I must because I hear it's much better. Anyway, here is a natural nail with some cute feminine floral designs on it. What do you think?