Au Naturel - One Week Down

So my first week of Au Naturel is over and I thought I'd give you a little update on the hair and skin changes front.

I've actually found this week dramatically easy. Whilst my updo's will never look quite as good wet as they do dry and soft, I have fallen back in love with my natural hair. If you're wondering what that looks like, see embarrassing photo. I've even started planning my Au Naturel party look for my friend's 18th next month - I like to plan ahead.

So there have been a few products that have saved me this week. 

The first is Trevor Sorbie's Beautifully Moisturised Ultimate Moisture Mask, phew, what a name! This is a wash out mask but as it's so light I've been mixing it in with my Loreal Paris heat defence and applying it to damp hair as a leave in mask. Just because I'm not using heat doesn't mean it doesn't need protecting from the sun.

For my skin my gorgeous Skinetica - Read the review - Has been serving me well and keeping those nasty spots at bay whilst I'm baring all. Out skin takes longer to react to changes in routine so I haven't noticed too much of a difference in quality but I'll be sure to keep you updated on that.

Lastly, because I'm not wearing any foundation and therefore no SPF, my Good Things Face The Day moisturiser with UV filters has been a must for keeping my skin hydrated and protected. 


So overall - I am missing my concealer, a little, but I've really enjoyed shaving an hour of my morning routine. Sleep. Sleep. zzzZZZ!

Au Naturel: Is it possible?

I begin this post even now with trepidation. I had a little bit of a meltdown the other day and took a vow of 'healthiness'. Read the rant: Boom! So I figured whilst I'm on my little health kick I might try a huge, shock tactics, overhaul on my current life style and revisit a few of my failed past challenges.
The first, is the Spending Ban challenge which I failed after less than a month but this time I am determined. So here are the rules that I set for myself last time:

• Whilst I will be cutting down on unnecessary spending on eating out etc this ban is mostly on beauty products. So that's makeup, clothes, accessories, perfume, skin care and body care (other than essentials). 
• Having said that I will not be buying books, CD's, DVD's or magazines or the like. 
• As stated above, I'm not going to stop all spending because I'm a student and there often isn't another choice but to eat out. However I will be sticking to plans that I have made with friends already. Cuts on leisure activity's will be enforced after these pre-arrange events have taken place. 
• This challenge will last one hundred days.
• The ban will exclude any birthdays in the next few months. Because why should my friends suffer! 
• Obviously college supplies etc. Class books, educational trips and such will have to be payed for.

I will do my best, but no promises lol. This blog has always had a fairly random post set up, but I may have to begin posting wish lists!

So the other challenge I've also failed in the past is the no heat hair challenge. I have a plan and I will get this one done. My general time frame on this is generally just as long as I can last. I will keep you updated!

Last but not least. The bare, naked face. This does not mean I'm going to stop wearing mascara but basically if it goes on my skin, then it's out. So powder, foundation, concealer, blusher. Not touching me.



So I'll see you with my apology failure post in about, two days?

Tah Tah! 

MUA Haulin'

If you have me on Twitter, which most of you don’t! You’ll know that I went out to Superdrug the other day for a bit of an MUA haul. After being rushed along I only ended with two products which I thought I’d do a quick review of for you. 

The first product I picked up, and this was more of an experiment. The Matte Perfection Shine Control Foundation is only two pounds which is why I decided that if I don’t like it won’t kill me to throw it out. I wasn’t expecting this product to stand up to my more expensive foundations but you can never judge a book by its cover. Some of my favourite products are very cheap so anything is worth a try even if this only became an emergency foundation. I have mixed feelings about the foundation. On a daily basis I only really use foundation or conceal on blemishes and around my nose as my blackheads are more noticeable there.  

The packaging is pretty much what you would expect. It is cheap but it’s easy to look past that. I found that on first application the product matched my skin tone well (I use the shade –Fair) as the product is fairly neutral, perhaps a little on the yellow side which is good if you’re trying to combat redness. I felt that whilst this is supposed to me matt the finish was dewier than I expected but once set with setting spray and powder the product gave a healthy glow without shine. Throughout the day I found the foundation did keep shine at bay however the finish wasn’t as good as I would hope and it became slightly patchy as the day wore on. Coverage is definitely light and would work much better for evening wear when it’s not being battered by the elements. This is the foundation I would buy if I was ridiculously skint because for the price, it’s not too bad but, as I expected, it doesn’t match up to any of my other foundations.

The second product that I grabbed was MUA’s new Fixing Mist. RRP of £5 has been reduced to £4 pounds in Superdrug which is where MUA is sold exclusively. The bottle is 85ml which seems small but is bigger than Collection 2000’s £5.99 Fix Me Up Makeup Fixer.  Compared to most budget makeup fixing sprays this is almost fragrance free. It has a slight sent but unless I’m really paying attention I barely notice this. I would have liked this to be more ‘misty’ when sprayed, as suggested by the name but otherwise this does dry quickly and I have noticed a difference in how long my makeup lasts. This was tested with my regular foundations, not the MUA one. If you’re looking for a good but cheap fixing spray or you’re new to makeup fixers this is a good one to go for as it’s cheap enough and small enough that if you don’t like the product, you having paid a small fortune for it as you would for a Skindinavia or Urban Decay setting spray.

QUICK HINT: Skindinavia and Urban Decay’s product are the same formula but Skindinavia is cheaper. 

So if you’ve got any budget beauty finds that are must haves let me know.

Face Base - I just woke up this perfect.

 

I was so happy to have this post requested that I decided to do it as a little two parter, because I feel that there are two sides to getting this right. So I’ve been asked to do a bit of ‘how to’ on getting natural blusher, bronzer and foundation. I thought I’d throw a little bit of highlighting in there too and do a big post about the face. As far as I’m concerned with the flawless base you’re pretty much good to go. The second part of this little segment will be uploaded on Saturday... hopefully. It's what I'm going to call English Rose. This look is all base. No filled in eyebrows or smoky black eyes. This is the skin you have, just at its very best. 

Site Seeing: 2012 on the Tinterweb

 

Have I said welcome to the New Year yet? Yeah, probably I know. This year I discovered some amazing sites, websites that is and I thought I’d share with you some of my favourites from 2012. 

Some of us are better at forking out massive amounts of money for products that we’ve never tried before. I’m a little more try before you buy so I wanted to find a site that gave me the opportunity to try out new things, without paying £10+ which I just can’t afford now that I’m unemployed. So my first site of the year is Latest In Beauty. This site does a lot of different but the main three are their LIB Collection, Little Beauty Box and Luxury Sample. 

The LIB Collection are boxes created by Latest In Beauty experts Boxes of full size products for specific needs. Want a beauty box designed for pampering? Or maybe even Mother and Baby. Either way, there’s at least one box for you. (Boxes are not a monthly subscription.)

The Little Beauty box is a box that costs you only £1.50. Take the beauty profiler. Like the recommended products? They arrive at your door. It’s as simple as that. All paid for in one text. 

Lastly the Luxury Samples. As it sounds this is the place to buy travel size samples of that massively expensive eye cream you want to try, but at a fraction of the price. But don’t be silly. Work it out value for money against the full size thing, including postage. And be aware that some things, the eye cream again, can last for months.

Wow, that’s a description! Let’s not ramble like that again.

The biggest thing to happen to me this year is obviously starting this blog and I don’t think I could have done that without SheSaidBeauty. Think… Facebook, but with makeup. Follow bloggers, there are some famous people on there, another way to keep up with Essie Button and the lovely Megan Isobel. So here it is, new blog posts with show up on your newsfeed, like products and brands, upload photos, don’t tag people, tag what you’re wearing on your face and connect up your blog, YouTube, facebook, twitter so that everyone knows when you’ve got a new post and how they can follow you. It’s a small but vastly growing community. 

This next site is a little bit of wish fulfilment. FantasyShopper is basically Sims for outfits! You can browse hundreds of shops and collections, add them to you online wardrobe and put them together to make outfits and share them with other site members. It also keeps a tally of how much your outfit costs. For me I use it as more of a shopping tool because you can just click buy and Fantasy Shopper will take you straight to the item at it’s supplier and I’m sure we all know how to internet shop. 

Last but not least of a biggy! We all know it but this year I’ve fallen even more in love with plain old simple… YouTube! I cannot even tell you how many amazing things I’ve learnt from YouTube this year. My subscription list has certainly grown and it’s been lovely to see how massive the beauty community is and it keeps growing. Can’t wait to discover more amazing people on YouTube this year.

And there you have it. What have been your big online discoveries this year?

Ta Ta for now :) 

Is Liz Earle getting a run for her money?

Look familiar?

For Christmas this year I begged and begged for the Soap & Glory FabPore Hot Cloth Cleanser. The reason I set my sight on this is because it came as part of a Christmas set from Soap & Glory along with Bright Here Bright Now, their illuminating moisturiser that has become a huge favourite of mine over the last few weeks.

No we all know about the infamous Cleanse & Polish from Liz Earle but I want to have a little talk about whether she might be getting a little run for her money. Be prepared for ingredient comparisons, value for money, product size, actual usage results and a general ramble on the other hot cloth cleansers out there.


Soap & Glory FabPore.

• FabPore comes in a 4.6 stars average rating on the Soap & Glory website. 
• RRP of £10 makes this an affordable little addition to your skincare routine. 
• A little goes a very long way, which is good at 100ml per tube.
• Packaging is very pretty but of average quality. 
• Cloth included. 
• Ingredients: (The Good Stuff) Panthenol, Natural Sweet Almond, Orange and Lavender essential oils.

Liz Earle Cleanse and Polish.

• List as long as my arm in beauty awards. 
• RRP of £14.25 for 100ml.
• A pump! That may sound like a sill advantage but it just makes life easier.
• Solid packaging but no different to your average plastic can.
• Cloth is very good quality. 
• Ingredients: (The Good Stuff) Beeswax, Eucalyptus, Glycerin, Hops Extract, D-Panthenol, Cocoa Butter, Rosemary Oil, Chamomile.

(Ignore the following white box, apparently Blogger and Microsoft Word aren't compatible. Who knew!)

For me Liz Earle is a bit of a miracle but there’s always a little bit of a Earle bandwagon to be jumped on. Now I’m alright with a leap of faith but let’s face it, we’re talking about whether £4.25 extra is worth it.  Value for money is always important to me but what is £4.25. It’s a meal deal at boots, or perhaps it’s a new pair of earrings (if you’re savvy enough) I even bought a Mango t-shirt for £4.75  the other day so there’s a lot you can do with 50p and that extra difference.

So it really does, for me, come down to product quality and I’ll admit I’m torn. On the one hand I can spare the extra £5 for a really good quality cleanser  and at the same time I can’t help but think I can put up with a product that does a very good job, maybe doesn’t quite measure up but does save more money in the long run.

So there you have it, a little competition. If Liz Earle is a 10 then Soap and Glory’s a definite 9.

So what do you think? Who’s closing in on the finish line for best cleanser?

Some more hot cloth cleansers hitting the market:

-          Sanctuary Polishing Hot Cloth Cleanser (125ml)

-          Sarah Chapman Skinesis Ultimate Cleanse (100ml)

-          This Works Clean Skin Gentle Cleanser (120ml)

 

My apologies!

Hello Beauty Addicts!

Well that feels weird; no 'Happy Holidays' or 'Merry Christmas.' Yes, it's finally happened, the new year has hit and my first post of the year is going to be a big apology. I am aware that I am a part timer. It's a fact. I have a lot of new commitments that are just eating up time but there is another reason of the more technical nature that explains why I haven't posted since... wait for it... the 20th of December! LAST YEAR! As far as I'm concerned, that's appalling. So here's the deal. Google mail for some reason suddenly decided that oh, my email address doesn't exist and let's face it, how can you sign into a blogger account with an email address that doesn't exist, oh, yes, you can't. A little bit of a pickle. So here's a quick one to say that yes, I have a lot of catching up to do. (Thanks computer, the internet is supposed to be revolutionary.) In the meantime, a quick beauty tip to keep you going and let you know I'm not dead?

     Vasaline acts as a protectant barrier between your lips and the world. It's moisturising properties are actually about nil to meh. Try using a moisturising lip balm (Hint hint: Burts Bees are superb!) and applying Vasiline over the top to lock that moisture in.

Tah Tah!

Christmas Tag.

Merry Christmas!

It’s December! Yeah, believe it or not, it’s here. Christmas is a pretty busy time for the blogger, what with Christmas hauls, Party Season Tutorials, even some yummy Christmas decorations, just to name a few. However I can’t let Christmas go by without a Christmas tag so to save time I’m getting mine in quick so I can keep up to date with all of the festive events as they happen. So, you may notice that this isn’t the big 2012 tag, it’s not the winterlicious either – I’m a sucker for tradition so I thought I’d go for a tag that circulated a few years ago, just to give you all a bit of variety. 

Onwards and upwards we go:

What is your favourite holiday movie? 

The cool part of me – if there is one - wants to say The Nightmare Before Christmas because it’s just magical, and a little bit crazy. But, as is unfortunately true, I am no such ultimately cool person so the truth is it’s the 1994 remake of Miracle on 34^th Street because let’s face it, Mara Wilson was soooo cute when she was little and it’s just such a ridiculously festive film.

What’s your favourite Christmas colour? 

Red. Just red. Red everything. Oh, and some green, Christmas tree green…. And a bit of gold. Christmas is just a very colourful time of year for me but I can’t pick just one colour. Red, green and gold – that’s a combo that makes me feel traditional and festive.

Do you like to stay in your PJ’s or dress up for Christmas? 

PJ’s. I’ve been known to have a shower, and then put my pyjamas back on. If there’s one day of the year I’m allowed to be lazy its Christmas. Sometimes we go for a walk after lunch; I’ll get changed if we go out, but mostly its pyjamas, hot chocolate and maybe even a hot water bottle.

If you could only buy one person a present this year who would it be? 

Me! Only kidding.  A toughie! Seeing as I’ve already bought half my presents I’m going to act like I was asked this back in January or something. Seeing as I’m signed up for the Secret Santa, I guess to be fair to my friends and family, because I love them all equally I would probably just buy for my blogger, whoever they may be.

Do you open your presents on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day? 

Well I don’t know about you but Christmas is just way to exciting to open presents and then go to bed! We’ve always opened our presents on Christmas morning… well except when I was little and I just couldn’t wait until the next day so my Mom would let me open a little one early. Or there was the year that my Mom thought I wouldn’t find my Christmas presents if she hid them... wait for it... UNDER MY BED! Needless to say, Christmas definitely came early that year.

Have you ever built a gingerbread house? 

No! I want to though, every year I say I’m going to make one, but then the Christmas chocolate kicks in and we all know how lazy that makes us. I am however making gingerbread Christmas tree decorations, which of course you will be making with me. Recipe and some baking pictures hitting TopKatTV on December 23^rd. Don’t miss those!

What do you like to do on your Christmas break? 

Walk. A lot. I usually have a lot of work to do over Christmas (Santa’s little elf, you see.) revision for exams tends to keep my indoors so anything to get outside when the weathers at that really crisp but sunny stage is a huge treat. I also love attending the big light switch on and the Christmas fairs. Unfortunately work has meant I had to forgo most of the festivities this year. 

Any Christmas wishes? 

Well I’ll be boxing up my mistletoe that’s for sure! I prefer wishes that actually will come true so I usually just hope for a good Christmas day, because it’s the one day you can just be happy without thinking about how much the whole holiday is costing and whether you’ll get snowed in.

Favourite Christmas smell?

Cinnamon and that mulled wine spice smell. I also love those dried oranges with cloves stuck in them. We’ve just bought a mulled wine fruit tea and it smells divine. Anyone wanting to join in with that should head over to Whittards... to make Christmas truly special.

Favourite Christmas meal or treat?

Well, the meal is clearly Christmas dinner! Treat wise I think Christmas pudding because you don’t really have it any other time of year so that makes it really special and indulgent. Plus you end up eating it with cheese for months to come.

Which holiday do you celebrate? 

Erm, Christmas?

What are you doing for the holiday this year? 

Same as per really. Christmas with the family, my grandparents are spending Christmas with us as they have been for the last few years. I really like a big family Christmas, although I do feel sorry for poor old Mom who, despite our attempts to help, still somehow ends up running around after us all.

What’s your favourite holiday drink?

That has to be Baileys. It’s just so warm and makes you want to snuggle up in front of a fire, even if it is served on the rocks. If you’re not a liqueur person then try adding a splash of Baileys to your festive hot chocolate.

Candy cane or gingerbread men? 

I haven’t actually noticed if we have more gingerbread around at this time of year in England. We tend to have candy canes in the house because my Mom doesn’t like ginger but I would prefer gingerbread. Hence why I’m making some. I’m also going to be making an orange version of the decoration for Mom, I will include that recipe with my gingerbread one.

What’s your favourite Christmas song? 

If I’m feeling a vintage Christmas then it’s Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas. I can’t deny though that I grew up with All I Want For Christmas so I can’t ignore that either. I don’t usually like Christmas songs that are released now but I did really like Train’s Christmas Time last year. Dare I say it as well, I wasn’t completely horrified by Justin Beiber’s offering to the Christmas scene either, but don’t hold it against me!

What’s the weirdest gift you’ve ever received? 

Hmm, for Christmas I don’t actually know. I’ve received things that seem weird now, like a wizard cookery book, but at the time I was really into Harry Potter- not that I don’t still hold a love for it – and cooking. My Mom bought me a mixing bowl I really wanted once, which she broke! And I have also noticed since it is the same bowl used in Downton Abbey (It’s from Sainsbury’s. Yup, all that vintage magic ruined.) She wasn’t very happy when she asked me what my favourite present was, looking at the pile of CD’s and a new pair of curlers and I said my mixing bowl. Moral of the story, never become a chef.

Have you ever made a snowman? 

Of course. It wasn’t a very artistic snowman and I usually get too cold to finish it by the time I’ve done the body. It’s about then that I realise the carrots are all being used for Christmas dinner, the stones are buries under the snow, and in the modern age, not many people have lumps of coal lying around that are just perfect eye size.

What is your favourite winter fragrance? 

I don’t really have one. I usually get a bottle of Christina Aguilera for my birthday and Christmas but the most festive scents I have are Ed Hardy’s Hard Candy and La Perla. I have recently added my Roberto Cavalli perfume, which I will be reviewing soon, along with many other scents in my perfume collections.

What is top of your Christmas list? 

Curlers! When mine broke I brought some new Remington ones but they’ve never compared to my beautiful Mark Hill ones. They’re also on sale in Boots, hint hint to Santa.

What is the most important thing to you about the holidays? 

Time off? No, in seriousness it’s what I said before; it’s just that one day a year where you can put everything aside and enjoy the day. No fuss. Just family.

I’ve just noticed that this tag is over a thousand words. If only it were so easy to write my thousand word English essays… oh well.

Happy holidays everyone. Wherever you are I hope you’re enjoying whatever holiday you celebrate at this time of year. Have fun.

Merry Christmas!

Feliz Navidad!

Joyeux Noel!

Frohe Weihnachten!

Buon Natale!

P.S. Yeah, I may have run out of ones I can do on an English keyboard.

My bookshelf.

 

 Hello! 

Now as you all know I am of course a beauty addict but today I felt like deviating a bit and taking you on a tour of my bookshelf over the past few months. I want to share with you the books I've read, the next book on my list and the ones I've loved, or in some cases, not loved. 

I'm planning on seeing Great Expectations this week and whilst watching the trailer with the beautiful Jeremy Irvine I was reminded of how much I loved Now Is Good.  You can imagine how disappointed I was to find out it doesn't come out on DVD until January! I remembered that I wanted to read the book after I'd seen the film so onto Amazon I went and downloaded it to my tablet. Republished for the films released as Now Is Good, this book by Jenny Downham was originally published as Before I Die in 2007.

Before I Die follows leukaemia victim Tessa Scott on a downward spiral as she attempts to do all of the things on her bucket list before she dies. Tessa's character is a typical sixteen year old with an attitude to match and most of the comedy comes from her antics and the quick wit of the characters. 

I've really enjoyed the simplicity of this book. It's very much an internal monologue and becomes very dreamy as Tessa's condition worsens. My only slight disappointment is that I didn't read this before seeing the film. For me the adaption of this was really beautiful and funny but as it turns out there are some major differences in personality, especially in the case of Tessa's boyfriend Adam who is very different in the film version. Whilst aspects of his personality add realism in the book it doesn't always work on a romantic level. 

Summary, treat this book as a relationship study and a girls life experience, not a romance. Secondly, see the book as a separate entity to the book as they are very similar in plot but remarkable different in tone. 

Either way, both are very good and particularly inspiring. Take a look: 

So my next book, and it's awful to say I love this but if you're feeling like some Gothic fairy tales then Angela Carter is just doing her thing in her collection of short stories: The Bloody Chamber. Anyone doing A level English Literature will be familiar with the, erm, at some times blunt but flowery at the same time style that Carter uses throughout the collection. Carter is insistent that she isn't rewriting fairy tales but let's face it, these are just the Brother's Grimm all over again, except very well written. With tales inspired by Little Red Riding Hood, Bluebeard, Beauty and the Beast, Snow White and a whole load of other folktales The Bloody Chamber is a somewhat gruesome take on our childhood fantasies. It's not your usual read, but if you're not afraid of a bit of gore then these are well worth a read.  

Carrying on with my slightly Gothic tastes, I always wanted to read The Woman in Black by Susan Hill so when I found out they were going to make a film I though I'd get in quick and read it before I saw it. For those who have seen the film, much like Now Is Good there are some major plot changes that I don't really care for. The novel is much more realistic and manages to hold that same suspenseful tension throughout before culminating in an almost sarcastic ending. When I brought my copy from Waterstones I splashed out on a lovely special edition (which you can see in the picture) with little sketches inside at the start of each chapter. Hill's writing style is very very eloquent and it really feels like every line counts. I couldn't put this book down. It wasn't too chilling but really made you think about karma and the afterlife. For a look at The Woman In Black (film version) for a general plot summary then here you go:

This last book is one that I'm planning on reading but haven't yet. I more want to know about your thoughts. I got The Night Circus written by Erin Morgenstern for Christmas last year and still haven't gotten around to reading it. I was intrigued by the beautiful front cover and decided I had to have it. Besides, who doesn't like a circus!

If you have read it, let me know what you thought.

Say goodbye to my bookshelf.

Tah raaa!