Valentines Day Gifting 💘

With Valentines Day coming up I thought I would share some gifting options for either your special person to buy or for you to treat yourself to. First thing I picked out was a lingerie set from AND/OR (a John Lewis own brand!), the Alexa set with bra, suspenders and underwear. I think this set is really feminine and pretty, it also comes in peacock blue but for Valentines day I thought the soft pink was more appropriate.  



As for fragrance I thought getting a matching male and female fragrances it would be a nice gift. Emporio Armani Because It's You Eau de Parfum is simply irresistible - like a ripe raspberry in its perfect and most elegant naturalness when combined with neroli notes as well as vanilla mixes with musk. I also chose some chocolates from Hotel Chocolat as a smaller present but I think they are more thoughtful than a bar of dairy milk! I picked out the Melting Hearts which are just solid 40% cocoa solids milk hearts; I have since eaten them and I can confirm that they are delicious!



My next pick is a bit of a splurge but I'm so obsessed with the Kate Spade New York handbags since buying one in the Black Friday sales, I had to include one here. This is the Kate Spade New York Cameron Street Mini Candace Leather Satchel in Rosso. The quality of the handbags is beautiful and the cost that bit more expensive but they are worth the splurge!



Here are my picks for the gentleman in your life for Valentines Day. First off I went for the coordinating male's scent from Emporio Armani Stronger With You Eau de Toilette. The spicy accord in the top notes - a mix of cardamom, pink peppercorn, sage, violet leaves and the smoky Vanilla Jungle Essence, falls in love with the sugar coated chestnut accord. I also selected a Daniel Wellington 0106DW Men's St Andrews Rose Gold Plated Leather Strap Watch. I thought this was a very classic watch for the man in your life and something that'll dress up any outfit.



I then picked up some cute men's Heart Socks, a practical choice with which to show your love! I also selected a Fossil Derrick Flip ID Bifold in dark brown which again is a useful gift. This sleek wallet is crafted from rich leather and features eight credit card slots, two ID windows, two slip pockets, one bill compartment and a special lining to help protect the Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) chips in your credit and debit cards from unwanted scanning.



Hope you all have a beautiful Valentines day or even Galentines Day however you spend it!

Lush Valentines Day 💕

Its that time of year where Lush brings out seasonal goodies for Valentines Day. As I love nice fragrances and some fizz, here are some of the favourite bits I picked up; Love Boat bath bomb, Whole Lotta Love Bubbleroon and Rose Bombshell bath bomb.
























Love Boat has to be my favourite design for a bath bomb, with little red hearts that trail behind it when it goes round the bath and the changing colours. I find it a zesty sherbet smell with organic sweet orange oil, Sicilian lemon oil and rose oil. The colour of the water is so pretty and perfect for Valentines Day. It's also shimmery when it starts to fizz away which looks super pretty. I'll definitely be stocking up on these - I'm going to have a fleet of Love Boats!

The Whole Lotta Love Bubbleroon is two red hearts sandwiched together with organic shea butter. This Bubbleroon not only makes the best bubbly bath it also makes the water a pretty shimmery red. It leaves your skin so soft because of the shea butter so it would be good for drier skin. What I like about Lush bubble bars is you can use them a couple of times if you cut them up, so I reckon I can get at least 2 baths out of this one.



This Rose bombshell has a floral triplet of yellow rose petals, rose absolute and rose oil and is an enthralling spectacle to watch. As it fizzes, the outer shell breaks away and magnificent petals burst out in a sweet haze of Sicilian lemon and floral geranium oils. It also comes in a giant version which is amazing but my bath isn't very big so I just went for the normal size. If you have a huge bath, you could happily indulge in the giant one.

Smashbox Always On Mettalic Matte Liquid Lipstick

I was kindly invited to Smashbox in Cambridge last week, to celebrate the launch of the new shades of the Always On Metallic Matte Liquid lipsticks. We watched a lip art demonstration using Kale My Vibe* which is a mid-tone green with green pearl. I would personally be tentative to use such bold colours but seeing people try them on and put them into a look made them look really wearable.



The new shades are: Pearl Please* (opal with multicolour pearl), XO Vlada*, Rust Fund* (pink copper with copper pearl), Carat Stick (orange with gold and pink pearl), Bold Digger* (bronze with bronze and gold pearl), Vino Noir* (burgundy and red pearl), Maneater* (red with red pearl), So Jelly *(fuchsia with fuchsia and blue pearl), Crystal Baller (light purple with purple and gold pearl), Make it Reign* (purple with purple pearl), Kale My Vibe* (mid-tone green with green pearl)  and Punked Rock *(grey with purple tint and silver pearl).





































If you are looking for a long lasting lip colour these liquid lipsticks are said to last 8 hours, without feathering and are water-resistant. They apply so easily with the precision tip applicator, with a no drip reservoir, so you don't need a lip liner. I tried layering Dream Huge with Pearl Please to make my own nude metallic and they layered really nicely, so that is also an option if you weren't feeling as bold a colour as some of the greens and purples. I found it really comfortable to wear and didn't budge even after eating and drinking.


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Top Make-Up Products 2017

Following up from my top skincare products of 2017 this post will be my favourite make-up products from last year. Some of the products are releases from over the last year and some are just ones I discovered last year.

The product I was most excited about getting last year was the Too Faced Natural Love palette. I had seen sneak peeks of this all over Jerrod's Instagram and I knew I had to get my hands on it. I've reached for this so much because the colour palette is so beautiful. If you want to find more about it I reviewed and swatched it on my blog here.



The second product I picked up a lot is the Tanya Burr Chasing the Sun collection Illuminating Powder in Champagne Sorbet*. The pigmentation of this is insane so I have to go light handed but its a beautiful highlighter and I've found myself sweeping it over my eyelids as a super quick swipe of colour on days I have to get ready quickly.  I reviewed it over on my blog here.




My third choice is a cult classic that I finally tried out this year is the Nars Radiant Creamy Concealer. I love the coverage of this product and a little goes a long way. I've used this daily since buying it and it works well both on my under-eyes as well as covering areas of pigmentation on my cheeks.



My fourth choice is this Clinique High Impact Mascara*, I received a sample of this in my goodie bag at the John Lewis Spring Beauty event.  It does such a good job of adding volume and colour to my lashes but without being really clumpy and also separates my lashes nicely. It comes off easily with my cleansers mentioned in my top skincare of 2017 post.



My next pick is Glossier Boy Brow* in Brown. I had been an avid user of Benefit Cosmetic's Gimme Brow but when I ordered this from Glossier I did use it more than the Gimme Brow. I prefer the amount of colour you get from this and it does more of a job of filling my brows in. Read about what else I bought from Glossier over here.



My last make-up favourite of 2017 was another cult classic released this year; Charlotte Tilbury Matte Revolution in Pillow Talk. This is the nude to beat all nudes for me, very much a your lips but better colour for me. Even though its a bit matte its still very comfortable to wear and longwearing. See my post here for swatches.



What are your favourite make-up products from 2017 and what launches are you looking forward to in 2018?!

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Top Skincare Products for 2017

Hope you all had a fabulous New Year! To start off 2018 I thought I would share my 2017 top beauty picks. It was hard to narrow down but I've gone for the things that I went back to over and over again throughout the year. To stop this being super long I'm going to split it into a skincare post and a makeup post, so keep an eye out for the follow up.

My top cleanser and moisturizer of 2017 has to go to Origins GinZing range. The GinZing Refreshing Scrub Cleanser* and GinZing Energy Boosting Gel Moisturizer* are a skincare match made in heaven for me. They're lightweight on my skin but keep it hydrated and silky smooth. I tend to use the cleanser as a second cleanse after I have removed my makeup.



My top cleanser/make-up remover is the Caudalie Make-Up Removing Cleansing Oil*. I think this product doesn't get enough press for how good it is. I love using this to take off my makeup; it simply melts off and even removes mascara without stinging my eyes or pulling on my lashes. I tried it initially as a sample from the Glamour Beauty Festival as part of my goodie bag but I liked it so much I bought a full size one! I also used their micellar water* which was also a good one for a super quick cleanse.



My favourite face mask of the year was also a tough decision as I've been multi-masking so I had to include the two I've used most; Origins Clear Improvement Active Charcoal Mask*  and the Origins Original Skin Retexturising Mask with Rose Clay*. I like to put the charcoal mask on my t-zone to combat the slight oiliness I can get that gives me tiny blackheads or breakouts and then I like using the Original Skin to smooth the rest of my face out and remove any dead skin cells to improve my moisturizer's effect.



The next favourite product of 2017 I picked is not one I had thought I would like but I reached for it so much and it is the Pixi Glow Mist*. I got this in my Glamour goodie bag from their festival and I have picked it up so much I had to include it here. I use this both underneath and on top of makeup and it just adds a fine mist of hydration and refreshes my makeup if I feel like its feeling dry.



What are your top skincare picks from last year? Let me know and have a peek for my top makeup picks of 2017!

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