Barry M 'Touch of Magic' Lip Paint | Review

This isn't a new product, but when I bought it about three months ago, I hadn't heard loads about it.

It's one of those lipsticks which apparently "adapt" to the colour of your skin. I don't know of this is true. It seems to come out a similar shade of pink on everyone.

What I love most about this lipstick is the hideous green colour it is in the bullet. It reminds me of the green ketchup you used to get. It just looks wrong. I always like pulling it out before I put it on to see people's reaction. It's usually one of bewilderment or just plain disgust.

Photographed on hand immediately after application

Photographed ten minutes after application

This thing is a true stain. Good luck getting it off your lips, because once it's on there, it doesn't want to budge. If you're like me and struggle to keep a lipstick on your lips, this will be perfect for you. It's probably good to use this with a careful hand, because if you end up going crazy and getting it everywhere, you might look like a clown for the rest of day, or have a lot of scrubbing with some makeup remover ahead of you. Because it's a stain though, you're not going to be needing to reapply in a hurry throughout the day, one application in the morning should see you through.

I find that the colour grows in intensity over time. Immediately after applying the colour does not appear to be that strong, but when you check it again five minutes later, it is a lot brighter and more vivid. I don't know if this is a good thing or not as generally I like to see the finished result of a makeup product after I've applied it.

Perhaps because of this, the application can sometimes end up a bit splotchy and uneven.

This is far from a natural colour, but when you're wearing it, it doesn't look like there's anything on your lips. Your lips just appear to be naturally bright pink..

I personally love the colour and think it's the perfect shade and formulation for summer. I personally hate wearing thick heavy lipsticks when it's hot outside, but with this you feel like there's nothing on your lips, and you won't need to reapply throughout the day.

Available from Boots and Superdrug for £4.49

Sleek Rose Gold Blush & Contour Kit | First Impressions

Just a quick post from me to share two things that I finally got my hands on today. I mentioned in a blog post here that I've been searching for Sleek's Rose Gold blush for months now. Every time I'm in town I always check Superdrug in the vain hope that it will be there, it never is. For some reason I can't find it on the Superdrug website and it always seemed to be sold out on Sleek's website (I just checked now and it's actually available).

I'd considered getting the blush palette in 'Lace' which has 'Guipere' in it, which seems to be very similar. No Superdrug I've been in (three) has sold these and I've never gotten around to ordering it online- I just checked the Sleek website and it's actually sold out.

I was so sick of not being able to find it that I'd even wondered if they'd let me just buy the tester of 'Rose Gold' in Superdrug..

I think someone else may have just got fed up of it always being out of stock, as the tester was missing when I went in today. However, in the 'Rose Gold' section there was a blush! I didn't get my hopes up as I thought someone might have left a different one in its place. But no, it was the real deal. It was also the only one left!

I then checked the contour section, my shade 'light' is always sold out wherever I look. But today they had one in stock. So I grabbed it. I never even really wanted it that much, but when I could never find it for months on end, I decided needed it. Ha! Well, I thought I should probably just grab it in case I can never find it again. I felt like fate was on my side today, and I didn't want to disappoint fate by rejecting what it had given me. GOOD GRIEF, the absolute crap I will tell myself to justify buying something!!

Now, here are my photos of my lovely new purchases and a couple of swatches. I won't go in depth about the products, but you can read a great review of 'Rose Gold' with a compairson to 'NARS Orgasm' here and the contour kit here if you wish!

They both seem like nice products. They are not chalky, have great pigmentation and are very nice colours. I honestly do not need another bronzer or highlighter, but I think they might double up nicely as eyeshadows.. again, just justifying buying unnecessary beauty products.

So, if you've been searching high and low either of these products like I have, now might be the time to look.. again!

Urban Decay Naked Eyeshadow | Rave Review

Urban Decay's Naked Palette is perhaps one of the most popular makeup products I have ever read about. As a result, I am not planning to ever do a review on it. I have nothing to say that hasn't been said more eloquently by others I'm afraid. I will however, RAVE about one individual eyeshadow.. the eponymous 'Naked.' I thought this might be useful in case anyone is accidentally neglecting this little beauty because it looks.. pretty boring. Even though it's not the prettiest or sparkliest eyeshadow in the world, or even in the palette, I still want to give it some love on here. I love you Naked.. (that sounded a bit weird).

This is maybe my all-time favourite eyeshadow for a couple of reasons. 1) It is matte and as finishes go, matte eyeshadows are far too uncommonly found (Naked only has one matte friend, 'Buck' in the Naked Palette) 2) I use it in multiple ways- It is brilliant for my brows and in my outer corner/crease. 

If you're fair like I am, I think Naked is one of the best eyeshadows you can have in your collection. It doesn't look very exciting in the pan at all, but it pulls eye looks together so well and does a great job on my brows. While other colours in the palette initially stood out to me and excited me (Gun Metal, Half Baked), Naked is the one which I rely on daily. 

Of course, it seems like everybody has the Naked Palette, but if you don't this little gem of an eyeshadow will set you back £14. That's a lot. Which I suppose is why the Naked Palette is such good value for money. For £36 you can get the palette containing twelve full-size eyeshadows as well as the famous primer potion and one of their Good Karma eyeshadow brushes. 

                      
Would I but it individually? Probably not. When it runs out I think I'll just re purchase the palette as there are four or five other shadows I use from it on a daily basis and I am not going to be repurchasing them all individually.. ever (ooh dramatic). Anyway, not to sound like I'm here to promote the palette (I'm not), I will just end by saying that I thoroughly enjoy using this eyeshadow, and maybe you do too, but if not- check it out!

Boots Botanic Rosewater Toning Spritz | Review

Ever since the Caudalie beauty elixir has been talked about 24/7, my interest in the idea of the product has confused me but also grabbed my attention massively. So last week when I was scouring boots for my last thing in the '3 for 2' skincare offer, I came across this. 


Boots Botanics used to sell a Rosewater Toner, which according to their website is no longer available. That product has lots of good reviews on Boots' own website and makeupalley. So I'm assuming this is a repackaged version, as a spray? 


I really like the packaging. It is plastic so completely safe to carry around in your bag. And I like the white on green, it looks refreshing and summery. At 150ml this is bigger than most products you might like to carry around with you but it should easily fit in your bag. Or, maybe you just want it for at home. If so, I don't think the size will prove too difficult in finding it a home. 

What it claims: 'Enliven your senses and refresh your skin with this revitalising organic Rosewater Toner. Spritz generously after cleansing to visibly tighten pores and remove the last traces of makeup. Skin feel smoother, fresher and prepared for moisturising.'


This product confuses me slightly because of the directions, which read


'With eyes closed spritz generously over face and neck after cleansing, wipe away with cotton wool.'


Most toners I've used I simply apply with a cotton wool and leave on, but this one says you should wipe it away. 


The way I use it is to simply spray this on my face to cool me down when I'm hot. I don't wipe away but I  can't tell you if maybe I should as I've only been using it for a few days. So far, nothing bad has appeared on my skin as a result.


I really like using it because I love Rosewater and the smell of rose. I cannot get enough of the smell. It is seriously addictive. However, if you're not a fan- and it can be quite sickly- don't even bother. You will hate this. 

So, what does this product contain? (skip ahead if this stuff bores you) The first ingredient is that old classic- aqua! This is followed by Alcohol Denat, which according to the packaging is an 'organic certified ingredient.' Alcohol denat is denatured alcohol, which means something has been added to it to make it taste bad.  Lovely. According to cosmeticsinfo.org Alcohol Denat  '[functions] as antifoaming agents, cosmetic astringents, solvents and viscosity decreasing agents.' The third ingredient is Glycerin, another organically certified ingredient. Fourth on the list comes 'Rosa damasca flower oil' which is again organically certified. So, this is the fourth product down. This isn't really a Rosewater Spritz but a water and alcohol spritz. Fifth and finally we have Citronellol, a flavouring ingredient which is used to replicate the scent of rose. So this means that not all (or any?) of the smell of rose comes from Rosewater, but instead from a flavouring added to the product. 


The ingredient list of this product does not seem to be harmful but I do worry about the alcohol being the second ingredient and therefore drying out skin (maybe this is why you should remove it?). The fact that the named element of this product, Rosewater, is fourth on the list it a little irritating, but you will find that with pretty much every product on the market. Take the old favourite Argan Oil for example- you will struggle to find that in the top ten ingredients of many products. 


I like that there are only five ingredients in the product as I'm always a little concerned when I look at a list of twenty different chemicals. So it gets bonus points from me for that, but I do wish the Rosewater was a little higher up. Because essentially we are mainly sprtizing our faces with water and alcohol when we use this product. All of the magical skin care benefits are supposed to be from the Rosewater, so let's hope that can overcome it's more prominent counterparts.


For those interested, this product is formulated without parabens and people tested. Both good things. 


Wow, what a ramble. This was literally supposed to be a post of two of three lines and has turned into a beast. Apologies. Anyway, I enjoy using this product in the really warm weather as it is cooling and refreshing. It is supposed to 'remove the last traces' of makeup so I'm not sure that it could be considered a dupe of the Caudalie beauty elixir, as many use that to 'fix' their makeup throughout the day. But if you want a refreshing mist throughout the day for a lot cheaper price (and you like the smell of rose!) this is a good product to have.




Size: 150 ml
Available: Boots, £3.99 or £4.99. I cannot find it on the website (strange) to double check, but I'm leaning more towards it being £3.99. Also, as it is 3 for 2 in boots you could maybe get it for free.

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How I Grew My Hair | Health & Growth Tips

As mentioned in a previous post, I started a routine to grow my hair about six months ago. Some parts of it may sound quite extreme, and a lot of it is purely common sense, but hopefully this will offer some good tips to help grow your hair long.

Firstly, there is no miracle product or action which will make your hair grow at super human speeds. It is instead important to have healthy hair. If your hair is healthy, the ends will not split and break off, and your hair will stay healthy and maintain its length better, therefore allowing you to grow your hair more easily.

Secondly, I am a believer that you cannot really 'repair' damaged hair, at least not through any shampoo which promises to mend split ends. I recommend looking very carefully at products which mention making your hair healthy. They usually state things like 'for healthy-looking hair.' Healthy-looking hair? Great, but how about actually making my hair healthy? Once an end is split, it is going to stay that way- cut it off. Saying this, I think my hair is in a lot better condition since I started doing the things mentioned below. It looks and feels a lot nicer and is easier to deal with. 

(I am not a hair dresser and am certainly not trying to say that you should do all of these to help maintain/achieve healthy hair. These are just things which I believe have worked for me, and if you're looking for things to help your hair, this might be helpful.)

1. Diet: zzz. My least favourite part. Sadly, it is important to have a healthy diet with protein and fat in it. These two will help your hair. Fun fun!

2. Oils. Hair oils have grown massively in popularity over the last couple of years. However, most of the popular hair oils (Morrocan Oil, Macadamia Oil brands) consist more of sillicones than they do of the actual nutritious oil. They will promise things like 'healthy-looking hair.' Sillicones are not necessarily terrible, but it is those which are coating your hair, making it look shiny and 'healthy'- when it is not. These products are also extremely expensive, and while they might make your hair look nice, they are not going to improve its condition, and may damage it. These products are all well and good for styling, but they should not be mistaken for something which is going to alter and imrpvoe your hair's health.

Instead, I use 100% oils which are much cheaper (some, like sweet almond oil cost as little as £2.99 from amazon). I will do a blog post about my favourite oils. Unlike the expensive brand oils, these are not for styling, and will therefore be greasy when you put them on your hair. Instead I like to put them on my hair before I shampoo it. If you don't want to spend money on oils, you can always use olive oil form your kitchen cupboard, and even double it up to use on your skin. This will be much better for your hair than expensive branded "oils."

3. Washing your hair. I say wash your hair as infrequently as you can. Try to leave it until it is visibly greasy before washing it. I don't like to wash my hair more than twice a week, and sometimes leave it for up to eight days- and I have very oily hair. However, if I am not leaving the house, or can get away without tying it up, I just do not wash it. Not washing your hair too often allows it to produce its own natural oils which is much better for it than chemical-laden shampoos!

4. Tying your hair up. This is a subject of much debate. If you scrape your hair back tightly, you are adding strain to it and can end up pulling it out. Instead, opt for a looser up do. Tying your hair up protects it in many ways:

A) It does not get knotty- and therefore you don't need to brush it as much. Brushing out knots damages the hair.

B) It does not get stuck or trapped in things- bags, doors, clothes, jewellery etc. meaning you keep more of it in your head.

C) It stops you fiddling with it, which can lead to damage

So, in my opinion, if tying up your hair doesn't damage it by putting a strain on it, you will be protecting it from a lot of "trauma" (ooh, how dramatic).

5. Sleeping at night/pillow. At night, I think it is very important to tie your hair up. Personally, my hair is a disgusting matted mess by the morning if I sleep with it down. I also sleep on a silk pillow case. this sounds completely pretentious and princessy but it was maybe the best £22 I ever invested in my hair (well, not me personally- it was a gift). Silk is supposed to be beneficial for both skin and hair as it does not take the moisture away from it. It's also 'silky' (of course) so your hair and skin sort of 'slide' on it and therefore get in a lot less of a mess. If you're worried about sleep lines on your face, many swear by using a silk pillowcase. I'm not at that stage in my life yet, but prevention is certainly better than a cure. From sleeping on a silk pillowcase for the last six months I can say that I HATE going back to sleeping on cotton (boo). On silk my hair is a lot tamer in the morning so going back to sleeping on cotton in a complete pain. 

6. Brushing your hair. Again, I am unsure how I feel about this entirely. It's important to brush your hair so that it doesn't get into an out of control matted mess. When this happens, sometimes the scissors are the only option- eek. We've all been there, right? There's nothing more disheartening that having to cut chunks out of your own maine :(. However, brushing your hair too much can be detrimental to its health, causing split ends and breakage. I've found that what works best for me is untaggling it as much as possible with my hands, and then running through it with a tangle teezer. This means I'm not running the brush through my knots, but pulling them apart gently to minimise them, and then sealing the deal with the tangle teezer. 

7. Heat/chemical damage. I'm slightly embarrassed to say that I have not used a single heat product on my hair since December 2011. What am I thinking? Yes, heat damage is bad but I may be taking it too far. You can probably afford to dry/straighten it once a week. I've never been a big hair straightener as my hair is fairly straight- and limp- anyway. As for the hair dryer? I HATE drying my hair. It is possibly the most boring task I have ever carried out, so I do not miss it at all. Generally I wash my hair in the evening in time for it to be dry before I go to bed, and then in the morning I am set to go- it also has more volume this way. As for chemical damage? I'm sure I still have some of that. I don't use sulphate or silicone-free shampoos and conditioners but I don't put anything else on my hair. No mousse, hair spray or any number of those things you can use to make your hair beautiful. However, I don't think some use of these products is going to destroy your hair. As long as you use a clarifying shampoo to get rid of build up once in a while, your hair isn't going to be a weighed down mess.

8. Cutting your hair. Personally I only cut my hair when I see split ends. It's important to cut these as they will just get worse and worse. Even if your lose a little length, it is worth it in the end. By leaving a split end, it will go further up the hair, causing more damage. By cutting it off you can let it grow back healthily.

'Skin, Hair, Nails' Vitamins | Review

About six months ago I began a dedicated quest for long hair (blog post to come). Six months later I am pleased with my hair growth. One of the factors I put this down to is the use of these vitamins.

Before I read about them a little bit, I never would have thought vitamins could make a difference. I've never believed in 'miracle' pills for anything. But after seeing some positive reviews and seeing them at half price- OK, that was the main reason- I decided to give it a go. If the worst came to the worst and they didn't do anything, I would still be getting a vitamin boost, so why not?

Scientific stuff: I am obviously not a scientist/nutritionist/person who knows anything about these sorts of things- although I've learned that when it comes to beauty products, it would be very useful to be one- so my knowledge of the ingredients is based solely upon what google offers up. One of the vitamins present in the product if biotin. Bioton deficiency can lead to hair loss and poorly nails. Not good. So, by that logic.. more biotin could possibly do the opposite and promote hair growth?

Although I bought the product to help my hair, it is difficult to measure hair growth accurately. I have however, noticed a massive difference in my nails. Thankfully nails are a lot easier to notice growing. My nails are now incredibly long and strong. Longer and stronger than they ever have been before in my life. The only explanation for this rapid improvement in my nails is these tablets. Saying that, my nails were never terrible before, but they are definitely a lot better now. Because of the noticeable improvements in my nails, and just assuming that because they're both protein and therefore hair and nails are the same, I am just going to jump to the conclusion that it is probably doing something good to my hair too! My hair does seem to have been growing quicker than usual, but my hair routine changed dramatically and so it could really have been an array of different factors causing this. However, if you are wanting to strengthen and grow your nails, this 100% works for me... and I'm pretty sure it worked for my hair too.

As for skin, I haven't noticed a difference. In fact, a lot of people report break outs after an increase in biotin consumption, but this can apparently be balanced out by staying properly hydrated. I haven't experienced these adverse effects, but my skin hasn't visibly improved either.

There are downsides to taking the product however. For one they STINK! Ugh. I used to gag when smelling them. But it is a similar yeasty smell that a lot of vitamin products have. Not good. The other issue is having to take them THREE TIMES A DAY. That is a lot, and easy to forget to do. The pills are quite big and if you have a problem swallowing pills, you are not going to relish swallowing three of these a day.

After using these for six months and getting through quite a few packs, I definitely feel like they're making a difference and certainly recommend them! If you're trying to grow your hair, maybe give these a go for a couple of months and see what you think. You are not going to wake up with long locks over night, but perhaps they'll help your hair reach its optimum growth rate. 

Where to buy: Holland & Barrett, price: 60 caplets, £7.69. But pretty much always half price. 

They're quite big..