Dear John Frieda....

Dear John Frieda...

As I am a long time admirer of your lovely hair products, it is with regret that I find myself today feeling a little...cheated? 

I absolutely adore the Full Repair range and used t use it all the time. Not long ago I decided to pick up some more of the shampoo and conditioner to use again. 

As much as I love the products themselves, I have a bone to pick. 

On the left, the lovely Hydrate & Rescue Shampoo. 250ml. 

On the right, Hydrate and Rescue Conditioner. 150ml. 

The cost of the shampoo? £5.89. 

The cost of the conditioner? £6.99. 

Maybe I'm being really thick.... but I really have no idea why I'm paying MORE for LESS product in the conditioner. 

As someone who has very long hair, this bottle of conditioner is almost all used up, whilst the shampoo is still going strong. 

Even with hair not as long as mine, surely most people would use just as much (if not more?) conditioner as shampoo when they wash their hair? 

Why, in all that is good and holy, am I paying more money for a bottle that at most would last a week, and would only last that long if I used a pea sized amount?

When I used to buy these products I used to get the same amount in both bottles and now I just feel cheated. 

I don't think I'll find myself buying these again...I wondered perhaps if the conditioner was something SO incredible that it would justify spending more money for less, but honestly there was no difference between it and the old bottles of conditioner that used to be sold. 

Maybe next time I'll stroll over to another brand when I'm buying hair products because at this rate I'd have to buy two conditioners for every shampoo I bought and if I did that I'd be bankrupt by now. 

I'm sorry Mr Frieda. You've lost a fan. 

Libby x

NOTD: Freak Out (11/01/2014)

Hi!

I have a new NOTD to show you today. I recently got a glitter polish for Christmas and couldn't wait to try it out so I thought I'd pop it in a post too! :)

This post was supposed to go up ages ago but I had trouble uploading the pictures...this isn't even on my nails anymore!

This is the main polish in use in this look: the Models Own nail polish in Freak Out. 

This has huge pieces of light blue, dark blue and purple glitter suspended in clear gel. 

I have to say I did have trouble getting an even distribution of the pieces onto  my nails and I ended up with loads on one nail, barely any on another. I had to go over each one a couple of times to make sure I got enough coated on each nail. 

The other polish I used as a base colour beforehand was the Miss Sporty Lasting Colour polish in...I'm not sure. One of my problems with Miss Sporty polishes is their labeling is awful. these have actual word names too but on the bottle all I can find are two numbers... 3160 and 510. From looking online this MAY be called "Atomic Blue"...but I have no idea! :) 

I really love the way the different blues shine out through and because the pieces of glitter are so big it almost looks like there are jewels in my nails which looks so pretty...I'm definitely a fan of this look!
If only glitter polish wasn't so much of an arse-ache to remove :(

Anyway! Thanks so much for reading!
Libby x

P.S
Took the dog for a run on the beach. You can't see his face but if you could you just know it would be the happiest dog-face you've ever seen. :) 

A Few Temorary Issues...

Hi....

I have been trying (in vain) to get a post up in the last few days but unfortunately there seems to be some sort of technical problem as it won't let me insert a picture....hopefully things will be back to normal and I'll be able to get my posts back up and running again!

Please bear with me for a few days...thanks! :)

Libby x

Happy New Year! (+ Beauty Resolutions)

Hi!

 

Ok, so technically its now the 2nd of January...I spent most of yesterday recovering from new year's eve so I couldn't quite manage to get this post up on new year's day! :) Never mind, better late than never!

 

I hope you all  had a really great new year's eve and also a great 2013 generally!

I personally have never celebrated new year's eve until this year as I've always found it depressing and I never really used to go out to celebrate it...but I decided to change that and I actually surprised myself by having a great time!

 

Anyway I thought I'd just quickly list some beauty related (and maybe one or two non-beauty related) resolutions for this year...I know we all have flaws and bad habits so it seems like a good time to kick start some changes.

 

1) Change up my every day makeup look.

 

This one mainly applies to weekdays when I'm going into sixth form. Like many people I tend to be so rushed in the mornings and recently have found myself sticking to just one look which is pretty boring. I'd really like to switch things up a bit and try out some different looks! This was harder when I was at school because we weren't allowed that much makeup but now I'm in sixth form I can experiment much more. I know I have tonnes of neutral looks that are begging to be tried out!
 

2) Get more use out of my eye shadows.

 

Does anyone else just LOVE the feeling when you hit pan on (or use up completely) an eyeshadow??? I find it so satisfying to know that I've used up a whole shadow and I know that whilst I do use them a lot I don't get as much use out of my shadows as I should. Being a massive eye shadow junkie I have plenty to choose from!

 This actually ties in with the first one; I don't tend to wear shadows when I'm going into sixth form as I'm too rushed in the mornings but I have some gorgeous neutral shadows (Sleek, UD Naked etc) that I'd love to wear more.  

 

3) Use up some products.

 

This is pretty self explanatory and links to the second resolution. I love it when I've used up some products so I need to branch out and away from my daily routine so that I can use up some other products. I have lots of things that I don't love but still work; I should use them more often so that I can use them all up....and then replace with things that I do like! This will hopefully keep my collection clutter free and also mean that I'm getting full use out of my stash.

 

4) Do the whole "cleanse, tone, moisturise" thing properly.

 

Ok this is a bad habit that definitely needs straightening out. I tend to get a bit lazy with washing my face and sometimes in the evenings I'll just use a face wipe to take off my makeup and then just fall into bed. I've noticed that this has been taking it's toll on my skin recently and so I really need to get back into the habit of cleansing, toning and moisturising properly as I'm sure my skin will thank me for it!

 

5) Stop obsessing about flaws.

 

Ok, so this is kind of beauty related...

I have under eye veins.

I have an unsymmetrical nose.

One of my eyebrows is weird.

I have one (yes just one...) dimple in my cheeks.  And whilst we're on the subject I think my cheeks are too round and look too chubby/plump. I know that apparently having a round face with full cheeks is supposedly youthful but I'm only 17...I'm not that worried about looking youthful yet!

 
 

I'm pretty sure the roundness of my cheeks is only matched by the moon. And have a game of "spot the dimple" whilst you're at it ;)

BUT....That's life. Short of having surgery there is nothing I can do about it.
 And to be honest I've come to the conclusion that actually I wouldn't even want to "correct" any of my flaws.
One of the reasons for this is that any type of cosmetic surgery both scares and annoys me.
The other reason is that we are ALL human. We all have flaws and as soon as you try to "fix" one another will crop up. Say you don't like your nose...you go to get a nose job... and then a week later you realise you don't like your chin. It'll never stop! We will ALWAYS find some things we don't like about ourselves so what's the point in spending money trying to correct them?  :)
Personally...this year I've come to the conclusion that life it just too short.
I'll try to cut down the amount of time that I spend worrying about how my face looks like a balloon and go and watch Tarzan or make something out of clay instead.
A much more productive way to spend your time.

6) Get a grip.

By this resolution I mean "learn how to do the things that adults do".... such as paying in cheques, getting on buses, going out and socialising, applying for driving lessons & learning to drive. That sort of thing :) All of these things are things that I need to do but for some reason I'm scared of being adult about it. Its time to get a grip and do those scary things that you do when you're grown up!


Anyway, sorry for the lengthy post! I'll stop rambling now.
What are your new year's resolutions?
Thanks for reading!
Libby x

Makeup Clearout!

Hi!

 

 

Yes I am writing this post as a form of procrastination... I have four essays to write over the next couple of days and I can't be bothered to do any of them. Serves me right for taking English Literature and History as a-levels...

Anyway this is much more fun to write about than the Russian revolution in 1917.

 

So I was looking through my makeup drawers and discovered that there are a whole load of products that I haven't used in ages...some of them too old/dried up/used up and I hadn't even noticed.

 

After doing some research I've found the lifespans for makeup products:

 

Mascara - 3 months

Pencil Eyeliners - 2 years

Eyeshadows - 2 years

Cream Shadows - 1 year

Lipsticks - 2 years

Cream Blush - 1 year

Powder Blush - 2 years

Foundations/Concealers - 2 years

 

 

Now...I'm not going to lie...I do NOT stick to these guidelines and personally I think some of them are myths.

I definitely don't throw away mascaras after 3 months...I throw them out when they've either dried up or I've used them up; I don't see the point in throwing out a perfectly good mascara. Similarly I definitely will not throw out an eyeshadow after 2 years if there is nothing wrong with it.

But its up to you! Personally I throw things out if I've used them up or if they can't be used anymore. Obviously if your lip gloss smells funny or your foundation isn't the same anymore then its probably time for a clear out. :)

 

 

I realised that there were some old, unusable products cluttering up my drawers and I thought that if I'm not using them anymore there is no point in keeping them.

 

 

Wow. That's a lot of makeup :P

I also threw out a couple of old, dried up nail polishes too so I've cleared up a lot of space in my makeup drawers.

 

1) Lips

 

 

This is the drawer that I think needed a clearout the most. There were several lipglosses that were old and some that were leaking (one of my biggest dislikes with lip products) and I just didn't want or need them anymore.

 

I threw out:

•  A L'Oreal gloss that I didn't ever even like... the smell was too strong and it was too frosty for me
•  A Natural Collection gloss that started to smell different and I hadn't used in months
• A Max Factor gloss I got for free a while ago. I LOVED this colour but now its old and I've used up most of it anyway.
• An Urban Decay mini lipgloss that came free with a set that I didn't like the colour of to start with.
• An old Lipmate lip balm that was really old
• My mini Benefit Lip Plump. I used this to mute out my lip colour before lipstick but I've used up most of it and even so I can use concealer for this purpose.

2) Palettes

 

 

These came from my "small palettes" drawer.

I got rid of:

 

• My Benefit The Realness Of Conealness palette. I've taken out all the mini products that came in this box and I've still got them. However there were 2 products in a pan in this box; one was the Lemon Aid which I've pretty much used up. The other was the Boi-ing which I dislike and anyway, its in the wrong shade. I felt it was time to get rid of this clunky packaging in my drawer!
• Urban Decay lip palette. This is really too old for me to justify keeping. I didn't even use the lip colours in there anymore anyway because they were old. I liked to keep a hold of it because its pretty packaging but its silly to let it take up space when I don't use it. 

3) Eyeshadows

 

 

I honestly don't know why I haven't thrown these out before now. Two of them were given to me by my sister ages ago and the other one was a shadow I never even liked.

Two of them are by Virgin Vie and the other by Barbara Daly and it had such awful pigmentation I swatched it and then it was shoved to the back of the drawer and forgotten about.

I also almost threw out a Body Shop eyeshadow that looks like a bruise. Before I remembered that I actually use it to look like bruises sometimes when I'm taking photos for my art projects (yes they tend to be quite dark...) so I decided to hang on to it :)

 

4) Eye...stuff?

 

 

I don't know what category these come under.  :P

One is the a Beauty Parlour eye roll on that never really did anything but was hanging around in my makeup drawers for a long time.

The other is the Bourjois Brush Concealer that I've actually used up now! It was very useful and I've finished every little bit of it now which makes me feel satisfied :) You can read a full review HERE.

 

5) Eye Liners

 

 

There wasn't a lot to throw out my my eyeliner drawer...apart from:

 

• My old Body Shop eyeliner. Again, this was given to me by my sister a long time ago and to be honest its too dry to use properly. I thought it was time to give up on this one.
• I also got rid of my Barry M glitter eyeliner. This stuff never worked even when I got it and has been drying out more and more ever since.

6) Mascaras

 

 

These were definitely ready to be thrown away...

 

• I have two of the Maybelline Great Lash and seeing as I don't particularly like either I thought it seemed right to throw out one (the older one) and keep the newer one just as a backup mascara in case I'm ever caught without any.
• My E.L.F Volumizing Mascara has now pretty much completely dried up and does nothing for my lashes now. You can read a review of it HERE if you want. It pretty much came dried up.
• Ah my Stila Fibre Optics Mascara. I thought I'd done a review of this but it turns out I never got round to it. For a while this was my favourite mascara! It's really volumizing and made my lashes thick and full without clumping up or sticking them together. I was a big fan of this and sad to see it go, however now I've pretty much used it all up.  

 

Wow that was quite a long post... :P

It was actually surprisingly fun to go through my makeup drawers and get rid of products that were taking up unnecessary space. I also discovered some products that I'd forgotten about in my drawers - ones that I'll definitely be getting use out of in the next few days and weeks.

 

And... I personally think the best thing about it is that now I'm able to go and find more pretty makeup items to fill those drawers - products that I'll actually use!

 

Have you had a makeup clear out recently?

Thanks for reading!

Libby x

Post Christmas Haul!

Hi!

 

I hope you had a good Christmas if you celebrate it and if not, hope you all had a good holiday season! :)

Our 6 month old collie had a particularly lovely day...

 

Anyway, I went on a little shopping trip the other day and picked up some hair/nail/skincare things in the sales!

 

I picked up John Frieda Full Repair Hydrate & Restore Shampoo & Conditioner first of all....

I usually only get these when they're on offer as £6/7 is quite a bit to pay for shampoo when it doesn't last that long...particularly with me as I have long hair! There was a 3 for 2 offer on "premium haircare" in Boots so I also got the John Frieda Luxurious Volume Dry Shampoo too as I was intrigued by their "luxurious volume" range as my hair is quite flat sometimes. I decided to try just the dry shampoo though as I've only ever really tried a couple of different dry shampoos and wanted to see how a more expensive one was different.

 

I also picked up some double faced cotton pads from Boots too as I was running out... I love these as they have a soft side for toner for your skin and then the rougher side is great for removing nail polish. These are only about £2 if I remember correctly.

 

 

 

I also then went to Superdrug (I know it is a bit weird to go to both  but they have slightly different brands, honest!) and I was drawn to the Barry M Glitter Nail Polishes in 353 Ruby Glitter and 335 Copper. They didn't have such a big range of Barry M Polishes in Boots so I generally like to have a look in Superdrug to see if there are any others there. Definitely looking forward to putting these on my nails soon! They were £2.99 each.

 

I also looked at some Simple skincare products in Superdrug and got the Kind To Skin Moisture Boost Hydro Mist which was £2 off. I really love this stuff and its my third bottle. I used to use it a LOT a year or so ago but when it ran out I forgot to repurchase. However now I'm glad I did rebuy it as I love this stuff. I spritz it on my face after foundation and it gives a lovely glow and keeps my skin feeling hydrated all day. This was about £4 with the £2 off.

 

I also got the Simple Kind To Skin + Perefecting Beauty Balm as I was intrigued by it. I think this was around £7 and I was surprised to see they only had one "universal shade" which was curious.

I'll be doing a review on this soon although on first glance it does look a little orange... perhaps not as "universal" as they thought.

 

 A few days ago I also picked up some new face wash, toner and a new mascara which I'll also be reviewing soon so keep an eye out for that even though I don't have pictures included in this post.

 

Have a good day!

Thanks for reading :)

Libby x

 

*REVIEW* NYX Blush in Natural

Hi!

Quite a while ago I made a purchase from the NYX website (www.nyxcosmetics.co.uk/) and I only just realised that I never actually reviewed this item! If you'd like to see that haul you can view it HERE and as far as I can tell I think I've done reviews for all the other items I purchased. :)

 

This costs £6 from the website and they have 25 shades!

 I chose the shade Natural because having blonde hair, blue eyes and fair skin its harder for me to get away with strong blush colours and so I generally tend to stick to a rather muted blush look if at all.

 

 

 

 

The shade is a light baby pink with a slight bit of shimmer in it - it's looking a lot brighter in the photo than in real life!

The packaging is also nice and sturdy and the shape makes it easy when it comes to saving space in your makeup collection. :)

 

 

 

Here's a swatch:

 

 

Obviously I wouldn't apply the blush this heavily! :P

 

Generally I think this is a really pretty colour especially for those with fair skin.
As you can see its very well pigmented but not so pigmented that it makes it difficult to wear...I personally don't like hyper-pigmented blushes as I'd never wear colour on my cheeks that strongly!

 

I usually just tap my brush into this and then tap off the excess and apply it. The colour this way is very buildable and it's hard to over apply.

 

I'm really happy with this blush -especially for the price! I've been reaching for it quite often recently and it gives a lovely flushed appearance to the cheeks.

 

Thanks for reading!
Have you tried the NYX blushes yet?

Libby x