29 Jan 2014

Revlon COLORBURST Lacquer Balm 150 Enticing Desirable

I love looking through magazines and noticing minimal and simplistic makeup but lips that make you go wow. Sometimes thats all you need is a bit of lip colour. Ever heard the phrase 'bold eyes OR bold lips'? Well this lip balm is definitely for the latter.


I thought I'd give this a go, to be honest, it was advertising that did it for me. Seeing how great Emma Stone looked gave me a lot of hope until I realised I would never look like her. Nevertheless, I spent a good ten minutes testing every shade of the Revlon COLORBURST Lacquer Balm 150 Enticing Desirable, until I found one that I wanted to give a go. I could have brought all of them, but I decided that I wanted my food budget for the week. I have so many light and soft shades of lipstick, it was definitely time to update my lipstick collection.

I must admit, when I first put it on, I thought it was a tad over the top. However, when I was getting ready for a night out, I realised how much it completed my look; my lips really popped. It didn't make my lips feel greasy and it looked pretty good. Unfortunately, I am a sufferer of dry lips, especially in this winter climate. So I had to put a few layers of normal lip balm before I could apply the revlon balm. I learnt this the hard way as when I first applied it, it looked disastrous over my dry cracked lips.

One of the draw backs is that it smudges very easily. I have to apply foundation around the edges of my mouth to minimise the smudging. On the plus side it is very easy to take off, but that is also a draw back in that I had to keep re-applying it. I don't think the balm was dense enough to last for a full night out, so you would definitely have to keep it in your bag (or bra if your like me who keeps everything in there).

Despite a few flaws, its not something that would discourage me from buying another one from the collection, I especially want to try one of their matte balms, just to see if i have any similar problems. A plus that I found is that it doesn't get all over your teeth, so when your smiling at that guy you like, you wont have your teeth covered in red gunk, looking like you just killed you last victim because your a vampire. Although it smudged a bit, it was very easy to apply too. In some of these pictures, the balm looks slightly pinkish, but thats just my lighting. The closest picture to its true look is the first lip picture on the right.

Overall, I think it is worth it, but at the same time I do prefer the Rimmel London Kate 01 Lipstick. That is also a deep red but its a lipstick not a balm. Hopefully I'll get a chance to review that another time but for £7.99 I will definitely be trying another shade. I can tell these are going to be big this year, and they are great value for money.



25 Jan 2014

Lush -Toner Water and Helping Hands Hand Cream

So yesterday I may have gotten a little side tracked and taken a cheeky stop in lush. If you have seen my 10 things post earlier this week, one of the things I wanted to get my hands on was the Helping Hands Hand Cream.

As a walked in  I was greeted with lovely smells that just filled the shop and walked over the the cream and body lotion section. Next to me a lovely young woman was giving a talk to some girls wanting to know more about the beauty products, to which I may have secretly been listening to. Having found the Helping Hands Hand Cream, my eye got taken by their toner water. So I grabbed one of each and headed for the counter where the sales woman couldn't stop raving on about how great their hand creams were. She said to only use a bit at a time because thats all you'll need and it will last a long time.

I got home and of course, the first thing to do when you buy something new is to try it out. One thing I LOVE about lush is the style of their products, so elegant. The hand cream had a little label on the side saying who it was made by and the date, ensuring me it was fresh. I twisted open the pot and gave it a try. I must admit, I wasn't too keen on the smell at first but it definitely has grown on me. It has almond, cocoa butter and chamomile in it and after using it three or four times, I have really gotten use to its scent.

As someone at university where dishwashers no longer exist, this is absolutely perfect for when my hands are shrivelled from washing up. I've always been a tad apprehensive when it comes to hand creams as I always felt it made my hands feel greasy but this definitely doesn't. They make my hands feel moisturised, fresh and smelling lovely.

As for the toner water, I have only used this twice and it pretty much does what it says. It contains aloe vera which is a plus and it is really good for when I have a 9am lecture as it can be a picker-upper. It is a spray cap which is either great or disastrous. Fortunately, it's great. You get an even amount when spraying, not a faceful of product at once, so you don't waste any either.

Looking at my receipt, I spend a total of £11.45 and for what I got, I'd say it's definitely a good purchase.





24 Jan 2014

Miss Dior Eau de Toilette

This was a post I had to make! This is currently my 3rd bottle of the fragrance and for a very good reason. Personally I think it is suitable for all girls of all ages. I have the 100ml version which retails at around £77.00. Although a tad pricey, I normally pick up a bottle in duty free at an airport when running low; and I can honestly say that it is worth every penny.



I love the design of the bottle, it's nothing over the top, just very cute and simple. Despite its simplicity, they clearly have thought hard about all aspects of the bottle, even the bottom. The cute little bow and its very simple label are perfect, and the bottle isn't covered in writing about what chemicals it contains and so on. In fact the only information such as the amount of ml's is actually on the inside of the label, so you have to look though the bottle if you want to see what it says. One of the other benefits to the designs simplicity is that I didn't have to spend a day figuring out how to open the bottle and it didn't have a complicated spray system. the amount of hours i must have spent trying to open complicated bottles of perfume.

Back to the scent, it's rather florally but not overpowering; its quite soft and welcoming. I have had several people ask me what I'm wearing followed by a few compliments. I must admit I am sort of stuck with this perfume and I haven't yet had a chance to risk their other products. I do remember once almost missing my flight when at an airport in duty free whilst testing out all the Miss Dior scents, to which my mother wasn't happy about.

To summarise, if your looking for your next favourite perfume, I can guarantee that this will not let you down. Simple and Sweet.

23 Jan 2014

Alexa Chung - IT


So this book called 'IT' by Alexa Chung has sort of made a name for itself and I was keen to find out what all the fuss was about. I must admit, I was rather excited when it arrived in the post.

The first thing I noticed is that the cover of the book was a soft pink material in hardback which was very eye-catch, ironically, the book does also have an eye on the front of it. It definitely looks the part for a fashion based/ biography book. My immediate impressions were simple, sweet and fashionable.

A lot of the book was about where she got her style from and who her inspirations were growing up. Considering she has recently become a major icon in the fashion world, I thought that this was a great way to understand where her fashion sense comes from. She added some personal notes about her Grandpa, making the book slightly more biographical but by no means less interesting. 'IT' was filled with many iconic faces such as Anna Karina, Winona Ryder, Charlotte Rampling, Liv Tyler and of course the recently turned 40 Kate Moss.

This book was a very good read and a must have for budding fashionistas, however I still feel that something more could have been given from it. By all means, I learnt a few things myself, but even towards the end of the book, she was talking about past influences from her mother. I felt we never really got to the present moment of the book and the festival reference in the book I felt wasn't necessary.

On saying that, I am pleased to have read this Alexa Chung book and its definitely one that I will keep going back to when i want a flick through. Furthermore, it is her first book. Overall i'd give it an 8/10.

GlossyBox Subscription

So as a treat for myself, I have started a 6 month subscription to Glossybox UK. Having heard raving reviews for it, apparently one of the best beauty boxes around, I thought I'd give it a go. Although I have yet to receive my first box, I can't help but hear some rather negative feedback from January's box, causing many people to cancel their subscription.


Makes me wonder, should I have signed up for Glossybox? To be honest, I think only after a good trial run will I be able to give a good honest review, but it's not a good start that I'm already a tad apprehensive. Hopefully I will be proved wrong and I'll fall in love with it. at just over £10 a month too.

22 Jan 2014

10 THINGS I WANT TO TRY THIS YEAR!


So I have selected 10 products that I'd really love to try over 2014...


  1. NAKED3-URBAN DECAY - Although I have never tried any of the previous collections, a good friend of mine cannot stop telling the world about how great this pallet is! So hopefully I can dig to the bottom of my pockets to find £37.00 to buy it.
  2. LUSH - HELPING HANDS HAND CREAM - I've never been a big fan of hand cream but more recently I thought I'd give it a go. Lush is a well represented brand and I love the unique look it has. Something that won't bust your purse at £7.50/100g
  3. MAC- RUSSIAN RED LIPSTICK - More recently I've found myself divulging into deep red colours. One of Mac's best selling products is lipstick therefore tempting me to give it a go. It costs £15.00. A tad pricy for some lipstick but then again, I have a hunch it may be more about the brand name.
  4. EOS - LIP BALM - No, Miley Cyrus' music video has not inspired this buy. More the fact that on a recent trip to NYC, these little things were everywhere and now I'm hitting myself for not buying one due to the cold british weather. These cute balms will cost a mere £4.99.
  5. BOBBIE BROWN - EXTRA BALM RINSE- I have only recently tried the BB mascara, which I adore, and hopefully will later review. As someone who suffers from dry skin, I need a product that can work wonders and I think Ill start here. It better work a miracle for £45.00 but the 5 star reviews it has been given seem to say that it does.
  6. MAX FACTOR - EXCESS LONGWEAR EYELINER - I'm quite excited to try this because many of the eyeliners I currently own don't last too long. This product is new for 2014 so hopefully it will live up to the hype at only £4.99. A good deal for a product that claims to last for at least 12 hours.
  7. REVLON - NAILCARE TREAT AND BOOST - This nail polish claims to prevent nails from splitting, cracking or breaking and as someone who often experiences these things, I thing I want to try this. £7.49 and I really do like the cute and simple bottle design.
  8. TANGLE TEEZER - When at a friend's house and I have forgotten to pack a brush and I ask to borrow one, I have frequently been given this followed by a dialogue of how great it is. At £10.20 this is one of the main things I aim to have tried within the next year.
  9. ILLAMASQUA - POWDER BLUSHER - Never have I ever used blush. sounds like a boring start to a well known university drinking game, but with my pale complexion, I never thought I could pull it off. total beauty said it was one of their 8 best blushes and I've wanted to try one for a while, so why not a well rated one?£18.00
  10. B6 VITAMIN-INFUSED COMPLEXION PREP SPRAY-URBAN DECAY - Claims to minimise pores and help reduce redness. I can imagine after a long, tiring day or a heavy night that this could be a good picker-upper. Not normally a keen fan of face sprays but considering this £21.00 product is quite natural, I'll give it a go.
So these are my 2014 trial products, what about yours?







Newbie Alert!

New year, New Idea!

Hello! My name is Laura and I've created this blog for several different reasons. Firstly, now I am at university, I have become more and more obsessed with make-up, beauty regimes and so on. (Despite the lack of money I have). Secondly, I have been, 'inspired' as you say, by several other beauty blogs. I know mine won't compare, but you have to start somewhere! 

So without rattling on, a few aims for the year. Primarily blogging once a week or at least once every 10 days and also to stay up to date and give feedback on the things I may buy this year!

Lots of Love!