Beauty Box Swaps

Items that I currently have to swap on Beauty Box Swaps are:

Noveau Lashes Mascara in Noir - BNIB

2 1 x Maybelline Define-a-lash in Brown - Brand New and carded

2 1 x Maybelline Lash Stiletto in brownish brown - Brand New and carded

2 x NYC Chroma Face Glow (1 moonstone and 1 sunstone) brand new and sealed

2 x Avon Enchant Mascara in black BN and sealed

Narcisco Rodriguez for her perfume sample (1ml) brand new

Miss Sporty Nail polish in China Glaze 

Prestige Skin Loving Minerals eyeliner in Hematite Grey - brand new

2 x wet n wild single eyeshadows both in fine wine brand new

2 x Vital Radiance by Revlon Easy Blending Mousse eyeshadow both in pearl white

Collection 2000 Collegen Curls mascara in ultra black brand new

2 x Wet n Wild beauty benefits fresh effects mineral foundation in fair - brand new

1 x Japonesque smudge brush - brand new and boxed

1 x Max Factor Eye definer brush - brand new and boxed (box slightly scuffed)
1 x 17 BB  in light, used twice, too dark for me unfortunately :-( 
1 x Clarins Daily Energizer Wake Up Booster new and sealed
3 x Robert Piguet perfume samples from GB
2 x Gosh pigments in blaze and sunstone, each swatched once
1 x Invigorate shower gel by Como Shambala - Eucalyptus, geranium, lavender and peppermint - 50ml
1 x Elf Studio lipstick in natural nymph, used twice does not work for me at all!
1 x Beach tint by Becca in watermelon, swatched once
various sachets of avon skincare samples. happy to pop these in with another swap if someone wants them.
1 x mini nails inc in basil street, already have the full size so don't need the mini, never used.
 1 x sachet of deborah lippmann stripper to go

1 x Clarins extra firming body cream 30ml from Harrods GB
1 x 50ml Molton Brown Heavenly Gingerlily 50ml from Harrods GB
Body Shop Moringa Shower Gel 250ml brand new
Bodyshop Moringa bar soap
Bodyshop Moringa body scrub 50ml brand new
Bodyshop Moringa body butter 50ml brand new
Urban Decay Eyeshadow in Heat, swatched a few times
Urban Decay Eyeshadow in Sting, swatched a few times
Accessorize Eyeshadow in Ultra Violet
ELF eyeshadow quad in teal dream - new
GHD Rescue drops brand new

If anyone wants pictures of anything just let me know x x

 My little boy kept trying to get in on every shot, managed to get a few without him but I thought i'd make him happy by including his nostrils!

My competition win!

I was so excited last week to receive an email from ELF to say I had won a goody bag from them by entering a competition. I never win anything so I was really surprised. I never really enter comps because I just don't win but thought I would so it for fun whilst I was on my own and bored. The competition was to try and guess what the products were that were blurred out. I got the email from them on Friday and received my brown box on Wednesday. It was definitely more than I was expecting.

Here are the goodies that ELF kindly sent me.

It was even more exciting as I had no idea what I was going to be sent :-)

The first thing I spotted in my box was the beauty encyclopedia for eyes. It contains 12 eyeshadows, 2 cream shadows, 1 eyeliner and 1 brush. All of the colours are really wearable and are quite neutral earthy shades, they range from a lovely light highlighter shade up to a dark plum colour with lots of loves browns and lighter purple shades. They are seriously pigmented colours and looks great on. There are two matt shades and the rest are shimmer. I actually thought the cream eyeshadows were highlighters but I think I will still try and give them a go as a highlighter. There is also an instruction guide printed on the other side of the palette.

Next up I got two of the eyeshadow quads, teal dream and punk funk. I haven't used these yet so can't give a full opinion but I can't wait to try them, especially the teal dream.

They also sent me the lengthening and volumizing mascara in black, I currently have a couple of mascaras on the go so haven't tried this either but again can't wait to give it a go. I'm really hoping this is good though, its only £3.50 so if its as good as some people have said this could save me a small fortune :-)

And last but certainly not least was this cute little box, it contains 10 mini lipglosses that you can attach to your phone. I wont do this but I will certainly use the glosses, there is a good range of colours and they all seem to give a really good hint of colour and not too sticky or too sickly or weird tasting. I've put a little swatch of each of them on my hand below.

I'm so happy with my package, I really didn't expect to win and certainly didn't expect as much as I got. I really appreciate them sending me all these goodies and will certainly be entering more competitions now I know I can actually win. As they say, you have to be in it to win it!

Thanks for reading all.

Hope your all having a great weekend.

Lots of Love

CF x x x

Depotting Urban Decay Primer Potion

Hi all,

I had a couple of UDPP minis that came with some Urban Decay palettes and gift sets. I find them great for travelling but unfortunately they both ran out. I decided to cut open the bottles to see if I could get any dregs out to give me a few more uses. I was amazed by how much came out.

 

Here are the tubes after they were cut open. I just used an old bread knife. (If you do this PLEASE be careful, especially with minis as you don't have much finger room) They cut through pretty easily.

 First tube after it was cut open. As you can see there is loads left in this tube, considering I couldn't get any more of the product out of this with the applicator.

 The second tube, not as much although it was a smaller tube, I still got quite a bit out of this one right down at the bottom.

Here is the primer in a plastic tub (I got these from Primark, it cost £1.00 for 3 of these tubs and either 2 or 3 lotion bottles and also some printed labels to stick on the bottles) Just look how much product came out of this, and to think I was just going to throw these away. I would recommend anyone with some used up UDPP get them out, cut them open and see what you can get out. 

Thanks for reading

Lots of Love

CF x x x

Vivo Cosmetics

Hi all,

Second post of the day. I'm sure most people will have heard about Vivo cosmetics, they are being sold in Tesco and are proving to be extremely popular. They are super cheap but that doesn't mean that the quality isn't there. I purchased a few eye shadows a while ago. I got shade 10 golden leaf and shade 7 dusky pink, both are pearl shadows and are very pigmented and excellent value for only £1.50 for 3.8g of product. The packaging is very sleek and fairly sturdy, I couldn't see a problem taking this on your travels with you.

Dusky pink is...well a dusky pink colour, I don't think there is a better way to describe the colour than the name of the product.

Golden leaf is a very deep green, this colour is extremely pigmented I only had to lightly sweep my finger across the shadow once to get a really good amount of colour. 

Both shades blend really well and with a primer last for at least 6-8 hours without fading or creasing. I can't wait to try out some of the other colours in the range, and they do have alot of colours. 

 Taken without flash

Taken with flash

Today I popped into a Tesco that wasn't so local to me to my husband could go for a tinkle. Whilst I was in there I couldn't resist having a quick snoop in the make up section and I was in luck they had Vivo. I picked up 3 items, an eyeliner in black, an eyeliner in white and some eyelashes by the name of Feather Boa . They have feathers on them and were reduced to £1.00, I couldn't resist, I don't know when I will use them but they just looked so cute and will add to my collection of other bizarre lashes that I own that I will never find a suitable occasion to wear. 

I was really gutted when I went to the self service checkout to find that the white eyeliner wouldn't scan, the girl came over and told me as it wont scan they couldn't sell it to me. I told her it was fine but I'm sure the look on my face told her that I was devastated. I so wanted that eyeliner. So much so that I got my husband to drive me to another Tesco to find one and I did. Yay for me! I also picked up the radiance boost highlighter whilst in there. The only thing that bothers me about the Vivo section is people feel the need to open and test all the non tester items, even when there is a tester on display. I had to open 3 of the boxes to find one that hadn't been used. Grrrr come on people that's what the testers are for!!!!!

Both the eyeliners swatched are really creamy and the black is really dark, which I really like I often find with cheaper brands that the black is sort of wishy washy and if I'm wearing black liner I want it to be black so I'm really looking forward to trying this out. Again with the white, its very creamy in Constancy and hopefully when on my waterline it will make my eyes look wide awake even when i' knackered and sleep deprived.

The highlighter I'm a little concerned about, I haven't used it yet but trying to get the product onto the brush I had to click about 30 times and then it came out a little lumpy and really thick, I'm not sure if I have a duff one or if its supposed to be like that but I shall reserve judgement until I have tried it out properly. It seemed to blend out quite nicely on the back of my hand so we shall see. This only comes in one shade and does look a little dark for my very pale skin, I'm hoping when on my face it doesn't look as dark.

And for the lashes, clearly I haven't used these yet but what more can I say, just look at them sooooo cute :-) I love long lashes and I love feathers, perfect combo.

Thanks for reading.

Lots of love

CF x x x

Carmine Box February

Hi all,

Todays post is on the February Carmine box, this is my first box from them, I am currently subscribed to Glossybox but decided to give Carmine a try. There has been a bit of an uproar on this months box due to them selling out of the original planned box and having to replace a few items with products from past boxes that have been the most popular. Personally I really didn't have an issue with this. Everyone seemed to want the Steam Cream, I wasn't bothered either way and received what seems to be the second alternative box.

I really like the packaging, I think it looks a little more classy than the Glossybox (no offence to GB as I love the baby pink box) with the black box and the pink logo, the only issue I had was I couldn't get the lid off, not sure if this was due to me being really impatient and trying to open it awkwardly or if it is quite difficult to get off, my husband managed it no problem.

 When I first opened up the tissue paper, I'll be honest I wasn't blown away but after actually looking at the items I'm really happy with them and actually prefer this to what was supposed to be the original box.

Here are the items I received.

The first thing my eyes went to was the Japonesque smudger brush. It looks like a really high quality brush and from what I have read from other people its really soft and works really well. I haven't tried this product so can't give a review.

Second item I saw was the Toothpaste, I love trying out new toothpastes, especially whitening ones so I can't wait to give this a go and see if it does anything for my teeth.

Thirdly was the Diego Dalla Palma lipstick sample, I got shade 32 which is a orangey pink colour, I will definitely be giving this a go, I've taken a look on their website but the shipping seems really expensive so don't think I will be purchasing anything from them even if I like it, which is a shame but hey ho what can you do?

Next was a perfume sample, this was included as a bonus item, I assume this is because people always seem to complain when getting perfume as one of the 5 items. Its not my cup of tea unfortunately, its a little too floral for me but at least I get to try something I wouldn't normally and you never know I may end up liking it. 

Next item I got was the Andrea Fullerton nail varnish in Matthew, this is like a flesh coloured shade, I love it I put a coat on my little finger and it went on really easily and dried quickly. Very happy with this item and its a full size product which is a bonus.

My final item and my favourite is the Blingtone eyeshadow, I am in love with this. I got it in the shade sp"ice"y it is uber sparkly but doesn't look too over the top glittery on your eyes. Its absolutely stunning, I wore it today and I think it looks fab, I would definitely recommend a primer with this eyeshadow but apart from that its true love for me and I will definitely be purchasing alot more of these colours. I think a trip to Boots is in order!!!!

All in all I am really impressed with Carmine, I love the box and the products. I will definitely be keeping my subscription to see whats in store for next month. Keep up the good work Carmine

Thanks for reading.

Lots of Love

CF x x x

Bargain nail polish!!!

Hi all,

I did a post the other day about a haul I got with some money my husband gave me, I mentioned I would be going out the day after to get some more. Well I decided that rather than getting some more make up I would spend the money on some items to reorganize my make up collection, since I last did it I have purchased alot of make up so just don't have room so I am currently on a mission to find the best (and cutest) way to store my make up. Any suggestions would be appreciated :-)

So I made a vow to not purchase any make up whilst on my quest.....I failed. Having said that I couldn't not pick this item up, it was only £1 and it looked GORGEOUS. I fell in love with the colour right away, it would have been rude not to. 

I was walking through Poundland and just happened to glance at the make up section (ok thats a bit of a lie it was less of a glance and more of a head off in the make up direction and have a good look) I looked up and spotted a Sally Hansen HD Nail Varnish in a lovely bright pink colour. The colour is called Digital. Here is a shot of the bottle.

 

Could anyone honestly say they could have left this behind.

Here is how the polish looks on my nails (apologies for the rubbish job, it was done at half ten at night after a few glasses of Bianco)

I really like the brush on this, I found it really easy to apply and to be honest it looked fine after 1 coat (it does say apply 2-3 on the bottle) I did do 3 coats just because I always do. It does take a little longer to dry than my other polishes but I am happy to wait because it is such a lovely colour. 

Has anyone else found any bargain nail polishes in Poundland or any other cheap as chips polishes that rival the more expensive brands? Let me know and if you have done a post on them at all please link me to them I would love to have a read.

Thanks for reading

Lots of  love

CF x x x

Teeny Weeny Haul

Ok, so its been a while since I have done a post so I thought I would start off with a little haul I got today. My football mad husband went out and bought ANOTHER football shirt today so he gave me some money to go and treat myself. Naturally my first thought was make up, much to his disliking :-)

So I popped into town and headed for my favourite shop, It used to be a huge market stall but they moved into an actual shop a couple of years ago. They sell all the brands that you can find in Boots, Superdrug and Debenhams but at discounted prices. I only managed to pick up a few bits today because I had to rush because the other half was off to football. 

Here are the few things I picked up.

 From L-R Stargazer single eyeshadow in Caramel, Rimmel Lasting Finish Mineral Enriched Foundation in shade 100 Ivory and Pout Eyeshadow duo in Miss Egypt.

Stargazer Shadow - £1.99

Foundation - £4.99

Pout Shadows - £2.99

I went in looking for a very neutral shade to use all over my lids, I wanted a matt shade but just couldn't make my mind up on one, then I spotted the rack of Stargazer shadows. I've never used this brand before or even swatched them in the shop due to the fact they are £1.99 and the packaging looking rather well...cheap! But I have to say I was incredibly surprised by how creamy and pigmented the shadows were. I picked up this shade to use as a highlighter. Once blended in it looks absolutely beautiful. As I only purchased today I haven't had a chance to try it out so will do a review once I have used it for a while. If its as good on as it is swatched I will definitely be going back to purchase alot more of the other colours.

The second item I picked up was the Pout duo, I've had a foundation from this brand before and I hated it. I felt like I was wearing a mask and I hated the smell. However that didn't put me off having a look at the eyeshadows on offer. They have some beautiful duos in a wide range of colours. My Eyes went straight for this duo. They're both quite neutral shades which I love and they remind me of Urban Decay shadows. The first colour is so pigmented, its just gorgeous. Its very shimmery and I can't wait to try it, the second shade is VERY glittery and has some quite big chunks of glitter in it. I don't think I will get as much use out of the second shade due to the glitter but it will get used.

Swatches are in the order they are pictured above.

My third and final purchase was the Rimmel foundation. What I do like about this shop is the ladies who work there are all very knowledgable about all the products they sell and they are always happy to recommend a product for you or help find the right shade for you, unlike some places they don't go for the most expensive product and actually recommend something that would be best for you. Definitely thumbs up for that! Anyway I was browsing the foundation section and a lovely lady came over and asked me if I was looking for anything in particular, I told her I just wanted to try a new foundation and she called over another lady who would be the best person to advise me on this. I told her what I wanted and she recommended this one. I've never tried it before so looking forward to seeing what its like. From swatching on my hand it seems to blend nicely, not to keen on the smell but it doesn't seem to dry as quick as some others I have tried so you have time to blend the product on your face. Once I have used this I will also do a review.

 (Eurgh, excuse my very pale hand!!)

All in all i'm quite happy with my purchases and not bad for £10. I will be going out tomorrow to spend the rest of my money from him at Boots :-) 

Thanks for reading

Lots of Love

CM x x x