Revlon colorstay quad- Brazen

I highly rate Revlon products, especially there lipsticks. I however had never tried any of there eye shadows before and thought id have a dabble.

 Eye shadow sets, like this quad, are great ways to try a few shades out all at once, I'm not much of an adventurous person when it comes to eye shadows, I usually just stay in the natural zone. This quad is perfect for someone like me, it has a dark shade which is ideal for crease work or lower lash line, and it has lighter shades for highlighting. Eye shadows tend to crease like crazy one me, but this Revlon colour stay quad is pretty resilient to creasing, they also claim to stay put for 16 hour but I wouldn't know that, as I have never worn make up for 16 hours straight haha. The pay off is over all good, however the yellow colour can be not so pigmented. But for me that isn't to much of an issue, as the dark brown has great pay off, which I think is more important. Each shadow in this set has a shimmer finish, which I usually avoid, but these colours have just the right amount of shimmer, not to much that you end up looking like a disco ball and not enough to have fall out all over your face when your using them. 

Over all this is a lovely eye shadow set, ideal for the party season which will soon be here and great as a Christmas present or stocking filler. There are also a wide variety of different colours in this colour stay quad range, so there is something to please most people. 

Mini haul

Being a student I don't really have much money to spend on luxuries but I was feeling a bit down one day and decided I was just going to treat myself to a few things iv wanted for a while.

The first of which was the Real Techniques core brush set, I know I'm really behind with this and everyone and their mother now has these brushes but I kept putting off buying them and to be honest I'm not sure why. I finally caved and purchased the set, and do not regret it.

I also picked up the Une mineral foundation, this is the first ever mineral foundation Iv owned. I do really want to try the Laura Mercier mineral foundation but as I haven't ever tried a mineral foundation before so I thought Id go for one that isn't so expensive just in case I didn't like the finish of it. Une isnt a brand I usually go for so I'm really looking forward to testing this out.

I have really oily eyelids, every eye shadow iv tried (even with a primer) has creased on me after wearing it for a while. I really liked the Revlon colourstay foundation, the longevity of it was a key factor for me. So I thought id try the Revlon colourstay eye shadows as well, in hope that they wont crease on me, or not crease as fast at least. 

The last two things were actually freebies in magazines. The L'occitan hand cream came with mari clare and the Dove hair mask came with cosmopolitan. I don't usually buy magazines but the fact these freebies were in them meant that I couldn't say no.  

Toni and Guy reconstruction mask.

 I recently drastically changed my hair colour, I decided to go bright blonde which involves bleaching the hair (and we all know that is not good at all). I then decided a week later that I hated it and re-dyed my hair a darker shade of blonde, this obviously isn't recommended as bleach seriously damages hair and then dying over it days later just causes even more damage. So when I decided I was going to dye my hair for the second time in a week I thought I needed something that will prevent my hair from becoming to damaged. This Toni and Guy hair mask was ideal, its not to expensive at £7 and its really easy to get hold of if I wanted to buy more, as toni and guy is stocked at Boots, Superdrug and various other high street stores as well as online. 

I use this mask twice a week, some times leaving it on for a few hours and other times just leaving it on while I shower. I coat the ends of my hair and let is soak in. I find this mask works well at moisturising and hydrating, my hair is naturally dry, so bleaching it just made it 10xs worse and this mask helped to add back the lost moister. I found when using this mask my hair actually felt soft, it helped to prevent breakage and split ends as well as making the over all condition of my hair look really good. I really feel like this mask helped save my hair from what could have been a potentially a very bad situation. Its affordable and lasted me roughly 2 months. I would say this is a very good inexpensive product and im really glad I tried it. 

Lush - Ultrabland facial cleanser

I have  never considered using an cleansing balm before, mainly due to the fact Iv always felt like my skin is to oily, and that a balm cleanser will break me out. One of the Lush sales assistant pointed this product out to me, she said that this product is designed for troubled skin, and it will be perfect for oily skin, as like removes like. I wasn't completely convinced but bought it none the less and I can honestly say I do not regret it one bit.

This cleanser is used by either applying a small amount to dry skin, clean or with make up on, then working it in, as its a balm the oils really lift any dirt or make up off the skin leaving the face clean and also very soft and moisturised. You then either wipe it off with a damp face cloth or use a toner and a cotton pad to remove the cleanser. 

 This cleanser contains rose which is known for its soothing properties it works wonders at calming the skin and any irritation. As well as rose this cleanser contains almond oil and bees wax, that binds with dirt and oil on the skin, allowing for a very good cleans. There is also honey in this product, which is a natural antiseptic, ideal for those who suffer with spots. 

Ultrabland is a very simple yet effective cleanser, its rich and luxurious, leaves your skin feeling so soft and nourished. As well as removing all trace of make up and dirt. It works well at calming break outs and soothing the skin. Its chemical free and just all round great for the skin. I highly recommend this cleanser to anyone and everyone. 

Lush - BB Seaweed face mask

I really like Lush face masks, they have a good range of masks for different skin types and concerns as well as being made from all natural ingredients. The down side of this however is that one, they have to be kept in the fridge which can be a bit annoying and two, they expire and go bad after about 4 weeks, which for me if not that big of a deal as I use them up in that time anyway, but I know some people say they end up throwing theirs away as its gone off. 

The Lush face masks cost just over £5 each and you get about 8 applications out of each pot (giver or take, depending on the face mask and its consistency). Lush also have a system in place where if you bring back 5 empty black Lush pots you can get a free face mask, which is what I do quite a lot. 

BB seaweed is a face mask designed to help sooth the skin, they recommend it to men who may suffer with razor burn on their face as it calms and heels the skin, as well as reducing redness. The mask is not exclusively for men, women can us it just the same. It contains honey, seaweed and aloe vera, which are all excellent ingredients that really help to heel and calm irritation. It also contains rose which we all know is a great skin care ingredient and the sole reason I bought this face mask, as my skin really likes rose. Its a great thing to have in skin care as its perfect for reducing redness in the skin, weather it be acne, sun burn, razor rash or just general redness. This is also good for sensitive skin types as there isn't any harsh chemicals or ingredients in it that may sing or irritate the skin. This mask gives a light exfoliation when washing it off, leaving your skin feeling smooth, soft and soothed. 

Ideal for anyone who may have problematic or sensitive/irritated skin. 

Products iv used up

August is almost over now, so that only means one thing, monthly empties blog post time. I haven't used up that much this month, I have a lot of almost empty products though, so I have a feeling next months blog post is going to have quite a lot of products in it. 

The first three things are all from the body shop. 

Rainforst moister shampoo - This was a free sample I received with a purchase I made online, It was nice and smelled really good. I'm not sure id bother to buy a full size one though. 

Chocomania body lotion- Iv done a full review of this here, I love it, it smells so good. I defiantly want to try some more in this line. 

Cocoa butter body wash- I didn't really like this, It didn't smell very nice and the bottle was so hard that I couldn't squeeze the product out. For the price I don't think its worth it, I wouldn't buy this again.

Tea tree water by Lush - I did enjoy this, but found that it could be a little over drying if I didn't have any active break outs or a bout of greasy skin. I do really like the toner waters but I think id only use this one during times when I have very spotty skin. 

Lush volcano foot mask - Iv already done a full review here, I do like this product but I want to try some more of their body masks and foot lotions and potions before going back to buy this again. That doesn't mean I wont buy this again as I would, but id like to try some more stuff first.  

St tropez gradual tanner - I loved this, the colour was great, the application was great, the smell was even good. But the only thing I didn't like was the fact this ran out so fast. I didn't even use it every day, but it seemed to just go so fast. Iv blogged about this already here. I do really like it but it went so fast, and its not 

like its a cheap product either. 

Avene TriAcneal- I have used this for the past year and loved it, I still do. But iv found a new retinol cream that I'm testing out, so for the time being I wont be re purchasing, but that's not to say I wont come back to this. 

Monthly favourites

I think I say this every month, but I cant believe its been a month already. I'm off back to university next weekend after having a 5 month summer holiday, it only feels like a week ago that I was coming home from university for the summer.... crazy, anyway that's not the point of this blog post lol.

I have quite a few favourites this month, mainly because I went on a crazy spending spree this last couple months and have accumulated a lot of new things that I just seem to love. There is a lot more stuff that I have got that I love and old products that I still love, but I think the blog post would be to long if I added everything.

As some of you may (or may not) know, iv dyed my hair a lot lighter than It naturally is, I had it done professionally and I think they used bleach on it. Now my hair is pretty dry and doesn't feel very nice, so I bought a new leave-in conditioner by Umberto Giannini, iv already done a review on it here, I love it.

You might be thinking 'what the hell is that red thing', well its a shampoo bar by Lush called 'New' and its designed to help promote hair growth, I bought it on a whim after hearing the lady at Lush trying to sell it to another women. It smells sort of like spices and lathers really well. A full review on this will be soon, but I am  really enjoying using it.

The body shop coconut body mist is great, I have had a lot of people asking me what perfume I'm wearing when Iv used this, including my step dad and men don't even pay attention to things like that so it says a lot. Even the women in the post office stopped me and asked me about it haha Its such a nice smell and seems to last a long time considering its a body mist.

If you follow me on twitter, or just read my blog a lot, you might have seen the influx of Lush posts and mentions about Lush products. I must have spend at least a million pound at Lush this last few months... ok maybe not a million but I did spend a lot.

Ro's argan body conditioner is the first ever product of this sort that Iv used. It smells amazing, Im not usually a fan of rose but this smells so good I could just eat it. It leaves my skin feeling so soft and smelling great.

Cosmetic lad is a facial moisturiser, I realise im not a 'lad' but the lady at Lush said it was ideal for my skin type (combination, irritated and occasional spots), it smells nice, as do most of the Lush products and it leaves my face feeling so hydrated and plump.

Eau roma water is a toner, yet again by Lush, (your all fed up of Lush now arnt you?) Its a very simple toner only consisting of rose and lavender water but it really helps to calm any irritated spots, or redness on my face.

Help me is a retinol cream by Philosophy, the women who works for them that I spoke to told me this product contains the highest legal amount of retinol thats aloud in the uk, It is meant to work wonders on the skin and is great for people with acne, scaring and redness. I love this so much, retinol creams are fantastic.

The little kabuki brush is by Eco tools, its one of the softest brushes iv ever felt and is ideal for carrying in your make up bag.

This Barry m nail paint iv already reviewed here, its such a good glittery colour and inexpensive.

The lipstick and the gloss are both from No7, Iv talked about them both already here, they are lovely and high quality. I'm so glad I bought both of these.

And finally the last thing is the lip pencil in 063 eastend snob by Rimmel, this lip liner and the pink lip gloss above is such a pretty combination.

No7 half price sale!

Picture heavy post sorry!

Boots are currently having a half price sale on all No7 products bar their foundations. So naturally I picked up a few things.  The first thing I got was this stay perfect lipstick in 25 classic rose, its such a beautiful colour, however I do find that the shape of the lipstick itself makes it hard to apply it neatly onto the lips.

 I then went for another lip product, this one being a gloss. It perfect to wear on its own to give a bit off colour, or over the top of a nude/pink lipstick to give it that extra something. 

I then saw this trio and loved it straight away, I have green eyes and purples look fantastic on that colour eyes. So I thought id go for it, even though I hardly wear anything other than neutrals on my eyes. I was slightly disappointed in this, purely because the pigmentation isn't great, you can build the colours up to make them more pigmented which is fine, but I was expecting slightly more colour pay off. 

 The last thing I bought was a mascara, I was in need of a new one and thought this would be an ideal time to pick one up. I loved the fact the brush wasn't plastic, and that it was a chunky wand.

 Right now is a perfect time to try out some of No7 products, I find this brand always has great deals on and the quality of most of their products is fantastic. Its a shame their foundations weren't on sale as I defiantly would have picked one (maybe more) up. I'm not sure how long this sale will last, so go and grab some things now before its to late!

Eco tools 5 piece eye brush set

 I have been tempted to buy new make up brushes for such a long time, but good quality ones can be very expensive and on a student budget its not something I can easily afford. I already own a Ecotools foundation brush (iv done a review on it but its so old that I can bare to link it here :P ) which I love, so while I was searching the Internet, I came across this brush set. They are 5 mini eye brushes and the fact they are mini doesn't bother me at all, in fact I prefer them to be smaller as I can control them better, store them easier and travel with them. They come in a travel roll that has a mirror which is ideal for travelling as it keeps them tidy and clean. 

The 5 brushes are label with what they 'should' be used for eg highlight, smudge brush and so on. But I use them in what ever way I want, you don't have to only us it the way the brush is label. I find them to be very soft, but if I were to nit pick id say the slanted large brush (second in from the left) can be a little bit scratchy, not really that much at all though. They are all made with synthetic hairs and cruelty free. Eco tools is a very environmentally friendly brand which is excellent, they are easy to clean and they don't seem to shed any hairs.  

They are very affordable and good quality, they apply and blend eye shadow lovely, they are also soft which means no irritation on the eyes.  

This brush set can be bought from Boots and Amazon for roughly £7 (price varies on Amazon) 

Lovely jubbly brush set