May Favourites...

Hello my lovelies, it's that time again!! I'm not going to say I can't believe how quick this month has gone because I say it every month! Here are this months favourites...

Xen-Tan Deep Bronze Luxe

I'd heard a lot about this fake tan in blogland and was looking to try something new so I thought I would give this a whirl. The slightly olive green toned cream slightly intimidated me to begin with but once it was on it left a lovely olive toned tan to my skin. It smells lovely and sweet and doesn't leave behind the usual digestive biscuit smell and it lasted for ages which I was really impressed with. I may do a full review on this but it's a big thumbs up from me.

Revlon peach petal lipgloss

This lipgloss is the perfect milky peachy lipgloss which is non sticky and looks fab over any nude lipstick. Love!

Mac peachykeen Blusher

This blusher looks a little scary in the pan but it's a sheertone shimmer so it isn't too pigmented. It leaves a lovely sheer glowy flush of peach to the cheeks which looks fab with a tan. I think this will be in my collection for a long time.

Model Own - Lilac Dream & China Glaze - For Audrey

I've been loving pastel nail polishes this month and these have been my firm favourites. Both look stunning on the nails and the forumulation and lasting power are great!

Lush Lemony Flutter Cuticle Cream

I've been using burt bees lemon cuticle for ages but I recently switched to this one. It is so moisturising that you only need a tiny amount so this tub will last me forever. It's got a lovely citrus lemon smell that some people don't like but I think it smells really fresh. It's also multi purpose and can be used on dry skin such as elbows etc.  

Boots Organics Body Butter

I've always loved The Body Shop's body butters but because they are a little on a pricey side I tend to just buy them as a treat. These are a great cheaper alternative which feel just a luxurious. I have a few different scents and they all smell delicious but the coconut one is definately my favourite.

What are your favourites from this month?

Laura xXx

TAG: Top Ten Summer Products

I've seen this tag on a few you tube video's and blogs and with the weather finally warming up I thought it was the perfect time to do it..

1. Sunscreen – As boring as it is, when you have skin as pale and sensitive as mine it’s an absolute must have.

2. Fake Tan – Warmer weather means showing more skin and no one wants to be looking pasty. Fake tan is the perfect way to achieve that bronzey glow without damaging your skin. My current favourite is zen-tan.

3. Pretty Sandals and Flipflops – the perfect way to finish off a summer outfit.

4. Bright nail polish – Bearing your toes means bright nail polish is a must have but summer is the one time of year you can get away with wearing it on your finger nails aswell. My summer favourites are barry M flamingo pink, Models own - coral reef and Barry M - Turquoise.

5. Bright lipstick – I don’t usually have the confidence to wear bright lipstick but I think if there’s one time of year anyone can pull it off, it’s summer! I think MAC’s Victorian will be my go to summer lipstick this year!

6. Body exfoliator and moisturiser – showing more skin means you need to take care of it and make sure it’s looking in tip top condition. I love boots organics range and my favourite is the almond one, it smells delicious!

7. Tinted Moisturiser – When it’s really hot there’s nothing I hate more than caking on a thick foundation. Tinted moisturiser is the perfect way to get a bit of coverage that feels light on the skin.

8. Highlighters – everyone wants to achieve that glowy look in the summer. Highlighters can be used on the face and body to create an all over glow. I love Me me me - beat the blues highlighterand also MAC’s msfs.

9. Water – I drink lots of water all year round but I drink even more in the summer. It’s important to keep hydrated when the weather’s hot.

10. Sunglasses – goes without saying really but sunglasses are one of my favourite summer accessories.

 

 

I tag anyone who wants to do this! Laura xXx

Giveaway!!

Hello my lovelies, it’s giveaway time! I just wanted to do a small giveaway to say thank you to all my lovely subscribers for sticking by me while I was away. It’s nothing massive but just a small thank you.

The prizes:

• Benefit silky finish lipstick in Jing a ling
• Girls Aloud Nadine lashes
• A bag of Cadburys caramel nibbles.

The rules:

• Comment below saying ‘enter me’ or something similar
• You must be a subscriber of my blog to enter
• If you are under 16 you must have permission from your parents
• Only one comment per person
• For an extra entry you can tweet about it, do a blog post or leave a link in the side bar of your blog. If you do any of these don’t forget to link me.

The giveaway will close on Friday 4th June at 12 Midnight.

So that’s it. Thanks everyone and good luck.

Laura xXx

Five Good Things

Hope you all enjoyed the lovely sunshine over the weekend. I went out for a lovely family meal on Saturday night and the rest of the time was spent enjoying the sunshine and lounging about.. this weather makes me soo lazy! Here are my five good things this week..

1. I’m sure it hasn’t gone unnoticed that this weekend has been absolutely glorious here in the UK. I think it was what we all needed after an uncommonly cold start to May and ‘the big freeze’ and all that.

2.  I’ve recently found the hills season 6 on the internet, I don’t have sky so I always feel like I’m missing out but now I can keep up with it. I thought it wouldn’t be the same without Lauren but I just love the drama!

3.  8 days to work till my holiday… yay!

4.   My spending ban is going really well so far, I haven’t been shopping since pay day so haven’t been tempted to buy anything I shouldn’t. There are a few things I’m lemming after from MAC though but I may treat myself to a little something at the end of the month if I keep being good!

5.   In all this warm weather I’ve been craving salads and ice lolly’s rather than carbs and chocolate.. always a bonus! I was munching on a fab ice lolly on Saturday afternoon and it took me right back to my childhood!

I know I said last week that I was going to go a little giveaway but I'm going to post it at some point tonight so keep an eye out for it! :)

Hope you all have a lovely week. Laura xXx

Updated Nail Polish Collection

I did a nail polish collection at some point during last summer but it's expanded quite a bit since then so I thought I would do an update on my collection. Just a little warning, this will turn into a really long post!

Pinks

I'll do them all left to right just so I don't have to keep writing it.

Top Row: Barry M - Bright Pink, Rimmel - Funtime Fuscia, OPI - That's Hot! Pink, China Glaze - Strawerry Fields, Revlon - posh pink.

Bottom Row: Nail Incs - Shoreditch, Nails Inc - Hollywood, Models Own - Pink Blush, No.7 - Milan, Ciate - Kniker Bocker Glory.

 Purples

 Top Row: Barry M - Vivid Purple, Barry M - Bright Purple, OPI - Purple With a Purpose, OPI - Done Out in Deco, Collection 2000 - Dynasty

Bottom Row: Ciate - Shaken Not Stirred, Ciate - Plastic Fantastic, Nails Inc - Melrose Avenue, Models Own - Lilac Dream

 Corals

Top Row: Orly - Cotton Candy, OPI -Shootout at the Coral OK, Revlon - Tropical Temptation, Barry M - Flamingo Pink, Rimmel - Rose Libertine.

Bottom Row: Nails Inc - Instyle Coral, Nails Inc - The Beach, Models Own - Coral Reef.

Reds

 

Nails Inc  - Beverly Hills, Nails Inc - Victoria & Albert, Barry M - Raspberry, Maybelline - Cerise Cherry, Revlon - Cherries in the Snow, China Glaze - Ruby Pumps

Blues/Greens

Top Row: Nails Inc - Rodeo Drive, OPI - Blue My Mind, OPI - Teal the Cows Come Home, China Glaze - Watermelon Rind, China Glaze - For Aubrey

Botton Row - Barry M - Navy, Barry M - Turquoise, Barry M - Mint Green, Collection 2000 - Button Moon

 Darks

Top Row: OPI - Black Onyx, OPI - Ink, OPI - Black Cherry Cutney, Tesco (it doesn't have a name on it sorry), No. 7 - Temptress.

Bottom Row: Mavala - Las Vegas, Barry M - Grey, Nails Inc - Victoria, No.7 - Betty Blues

Neutrals

  

Top Row - OPI - Got a Date to-knight, Models Own - Eutopia, Nails Inc - Elizabeth Street, L'oreal - 102, Barry M - Baby Pink, Rimmel - Beige Style, Models Own - Snow White, Mavala - Top Coat.

Middle Row - No.7 - Twinkle, Sally Hansen - Sheerly Opal, Orly - base coat, Seche Vite - Base, OPI - Nail Envy, Rimmel - Top Coat, Seche Vite - Top Coat

Bottom Row: OPI - Soft shades.

If you would like a swatch of any of my nail polishes just leave a comment and I'll post a picture.

What's your favourite nail polish??

Lots of Love, Laura xXx

TAG: Love/Like/Hate

I saw this tag on lollipoploves' blog and thought it looked like a fun tag to do. So they idea is to share 12 likes, 1 love and 8 hates. So here goes...

I like getting packages and letters in the post. I particularly like it when they are unexpected.

I like chocolate.

I like the first cup of tea I have when I get home from work. For some reason it tastes so much better than all the rest.

I like thunderstorms, but only when I’m inside.

I like ice cream.

I like getting bought flowers.

I like coffee and cake – the perfect combination.

I like the colour pink.

I like catching up with old friends and feeling like you never lost touch.

I like sunsets.

I like the seaside.

I like baking.

I love all my families, friends and boyfriend. I might not tell them enough but they are completely appreciated.

I hate waking up and thinking it’s the weekend and then realising it’s not and I have to get up for work.

I hate being grown up.

I hate waking up early at the weekend when I want a long lie in.

I hate eggs and milk.

I hate snow.

I hate football.

I hate arrogance.

I hate dogs - not out of choice but I have a phobia of them :( 

I know I'm supposed to tag three people but I'm just going to tag who ever wants to do this!

Laura xXx

Five Good Things

Hello, my lovelies. Hope you had a great weekend and a good Monday. I’m finding it hard to be positive this week because of one thing and another but here goes anyway...

1. The boyfriend and I aren’t going to get a holiday abroad this summer which is unfortunate but instead we are hoping to take a few short breaks in this country. We booked out first one this weekend, we are off to the lovely city of York.

2. My mum is away this week which means I get the house to myself for the week. I miss having her around but it’s great to do my own thing and not have anyone to answer to!

3. It was pay day on Friday... my favourite day of the month :)

4. Apparently the weather is supposed to get warmer this week. I think it’s about time really, I’m sick of feeling cold all the time!

5. We are going out for a family meal for my brother’s birthday this weekend. We don’t go out as a family enough but when we all get together I love it :)

I’m thinking of doing a giveaway, probably just a little one just to thank you for all my lovely subscribers who stuck with me even when I was absent for six months. Look out for that sometime this week.

I hope you are all ok and have a great week :) Lots of love, Laura

xXx

NOTD - Orly Cotton Candy

I was looking for a pastel pinky peachy colour for a while and when i saw swatches of Orly - Cotton Candy I thought it looked lovely.

The colour doesn't dissapoint, it's a gorgeous pastel peachy colour which is perfect for the summer pastel trend. However the formulation of this polish isn't so fantastic. A opaque coverage after two coats is easily achieved but I had issues with this polish streaking. It looked slightly better after my seche vite top coat had been applied but the finish still wasn't perfect. I think it's worth the effort just for the colour though :)

What colours will you be wearing on your nails this summer?

Laura xXx

Five Good Things

Hope you all had a lovely weekend; mine was fairly low key once again. I spent the whole of Sunday job hunting which isn’t really my favourite activity but it’s just gotta be done. Here are my five good things for this week:

1. 4 weeks till my week’s holiday off work.... and counting!!

2. I’m going to start saving more so I’m putting myself on a bit of a spending ban. I know a spending ban doesn’t sound like a good thing but I find saving just as addictive as shopping sometimes!

3. My hair has really grown since I last had it cut. It was back in December mind but I’m really happy with how it’s looking. I need to book a hair appointment soon though; it’s getting a tad ridiculous.

4. I went into MAC on Saturday to check on their new prêt-a-papier collection and I walked out completely empty handed and uninterested.

5. I’ve found a few new gurus on you tube lately. I love it when you come across someone and wonder how the hell you didn’t know about them before. I’ll probably do a share the love post soon.

Hope you all have a great week, Laura xXx

Topshop Make Up

I was shopping yesterday so went to check out topshop's new make-up range. I was really excited to see what all the fuss was about after hearing loads about it in blogland. I have to say i wasn't blown away. The thing that did stand out to me though is the packaging... it's super cute and feels really good quality. I came away with two things, the cream blush in flush and a lipstick in desert.

Cream blush - flush:

I had never tried a cream blush before but after hearing so many good things about these I knew i was going pick one of these up. The consistency is cream to powder so it isn't oily or greasy and looks really natural on the skin, creating a natural and pretty flush of colour. I can't compare this to any other cream blushes but I am impressed.

Lipstick - Desert:

The lipstick was a bit of an impulse buy, I think I picked it up just because I wanted to try more than one thing from the range and nothing else was catching my eye. The consistency and formula of this lipstick seems really nice but it's the colour I'm not too keen on. It looked like a pretty nude colour in the shop but it's quite brown with orangey undertones and it just doesn't work with my skin tone at all. It reminds me of rimmel - nude delight and revlon - nude attitude, i have both but rarely wear either. I think it would work better on someone with a darker skin tone but unfortunately it's not for me.

So overall I think the cream blushes are the standout product of the range. Nothing else really wowed me to be honest. The nail polishes did look really nice and there seemed to be a nice colour range but i'm trying not to buy anymore nail polish so i skipped on those.

What are your opinions and first impressions of topshop make-up?

Laura xXx

My MAC Neutral Palette

I finally completed my first MAC palette. I decided to keep it fairly neutral because I know i'll get the use out of the colours.
From left to right:

Top row: Vanilla, Phloof, Ricepaper, Goldmine, All that glitters.

Middle Row: Satin Taupe, Patina, Texture, Paradisco, Tempting.

Bottom Row: Sable, Mulch, Trax, Sketch, Handwritten.

My favourites:

Ricepaper
All That Glitters
Satin Taupe
Patina
Handwritten

What are your favourite MAC neutral eyeshadows?

Laura xXx

NOTD: Nails Inc - Rodeo Drive

I bought Nails Inc 'The Hills' Collection back in December, purely just because it was 'The Hills' collection. I was pleasantly surprised to find that they were all unique to colours i already have in my collection.

This is rodeo drive, one of my personal favourites from the collection. It's a dark teal cream. I don't own anything else like this but i love it, i just think it's a really unique colour. The consistency of this is great aswell, it's completley opaque with one coat.

Did you give in to the hills collection?

Laura xXx

Recent Nail Polish Haul

One of my new year's resolutions for 2010 was to not buy anymore nail polish. I lasted three months and last week I caved in and ended up buying some. One thing I've learnt from this is that i definately have a problem when it comes to nail polish... I'm obsessed!

Models Own:

I've heard loads about models own nail polish's so i thought it would be rude not to try them out.

From left to right: Lilac Dream, Eutopia, Coral Reef, Pink Blush.

China Glaze and Orly:

From right to left: Orly - cotton candy and China Glaze - For Audrey

OPI mini collection - soft shades 2010:

This collection includes from left to right: Isn't that precious, pink-a-doodle, I think in pink and It's a girl.

I haven't had chance to try them all out yet but on first impressions, models own nail polishes seem really nice, I love the china glaze and orly polishes but I'm a little dissapointed with the OPI collection. Look out for reviews and NOTD's with these polishes soon.

In case any of you are interested i use two sellers on ebay to buy my nail polishes, Sally's Manicure Supplies and Nails Supply UK. I prefer to buy from UK sellers on ebay which both these sellers are and I've never had any problems with either of them.

Laura xXx

Five Good Things

Hope you’ve all had a lovely bank holiday weekend. I’ve enjoyed spending quality time with the people that mean the most to me! I think I’m going to find it quite difficult to think of five good things to write about every week but surely it’s gotta be good for me!?

1. Bank holiday weekend – just having one extra day off at the weekend makes so much difference. I really think it should be made a permanent thing! :)

2. Obviously because of the bank holiday it means a four day week at work. I can’t complain about that and hopefully before I know it it’ll be the weekend again!

3. Post – I received a few packages through the post this week. I absolutely love getting parcels and even if I’m expecting them I’ll get really excited about getting home so I can open them... oh god.. how sad is that?!

4. Nail polish – nothing much to say about it apart from that it makes me happy :)

5. I’ve been shopping a few times this weekend and surprisingly haven’t really spent much, which is a real achievement for me! I’m quite impulsive when it comes to shopping and often buy things just so I don’t come home empty handed. This weekend I didn’t feel the need...

Laura xXx

Sunday FOTD

Hope everyone's having a lovely Sunday. I did a spot of shopping today and this is the make up i wore.

Face:

• 
  
  Revlon photo ready foundation in vanilla
• 
  
  Rimmel stay matte powder
• 
  
  Me Me Me - Beat the blues to highlight
• 
  
  Barry M natural Dazzle dusted over my face
• 
  
  Revlon matte blusher - perfectly peach
• 
  
  Prestige skin loving minerals - pure shimmer

Eyes:

• 
  
  Urban Decay - sellout all over the lid
• 
  
  Mac - Texture on the outer third
• 
  
  Mac - Mulch in the crease and outer V
• 
  
  Mac Blacktrack fluid line on upper lash line
• 
  
  Prestige total intensity liner in bold brown in lower lash line
• 
  
  Maybelline The Falsies Mascara

Lips:

• 
  
  Barry M 101 as a base
• 
  
  Revlon Peach Petal lipgloss

Laura xXx

April Favourites

I can't believe we are in May already, it means summer is on its way though so I'm certainly not complaining.

Onto this month's favourites:

MAC 109 Brush:

I use this for contouring and it's the perfect size to fit just underneath my cheekbone. I've used many brushes in the past to contour with but this is definately my favourite.

MAC harmony contour powder:



I bought this on recommendation from pixi2woo. I think it's really difficult to find a colour that doesn't make you look muddy or orange. MAC describe it as a 'muted rose-beige brown'. I think it would work for many skin tones but if you are pale and struggle to find a good contour colour I'd definately recommend trying this one.


MAC Viva Glam Gaga lipstick:




I LOVE this lipstick. It's just the perfect wearable bubblegum pink. It can look a little intimidating in the tube but it's not overly pigmented so a light covering looks really natural but it can also be built up to a bright bubblegum pink.


L'oreal Voluminous Mascara:


This mascara creates volume, length and seperation without clumping and what I love most about this mascara is that it doesn't leave my lashes feeling stiff and spikey.


Lush Sugar Lip Scrub:


Yes this may just be sugar in a jar that costs £4.50 when you could make your own at home for free but I'm too lazy for that! I suffer from really dry and flakey lips and this sorts them out in a flash and tastes lovely at the same time. I got sweet lips which is chocolate and vanilla flavour.


What have you been loving this month?


Laura xXx