Review | St Tropez Gradual Tan

Hey guys!

So today I thought I would do a quick review of the St. Tropez gradual tanner. So I got this about a month ago and it was free with Elle magazine (I believe). I have used it a couple of times and thought I would share my opinions on it with you guys! 

Description of the product
      So this is how the St Tropez website describes the product 'Our enriched, nourishing body moisturiser cleverly combines skin care benefits with a healthy touch of bronze. This gradual self-tanner will build up a gorgeous, golden glow over time.'  I can somewhat agree this statement, it really does give you a lovely glow almost instantly after applying it which I love although there are certain aspects to it that do let the product down which I will talk about later!

Does it work?
      Yes it does do what it says on the tin although I have tried other gradual tanners and they have be quite a bit darker than this one which I do prefer. It doesn't have that horrible green tinge that most tans and gradual tans have which I like, it really is a more bronzy colour in comparison to other tans which I think is brilliant.

Any downsides?
      I hate to say it but yes there is one huge downside to this product in my eyes, I don't know if anyone else feels this way but the product really does smell a lot like furniture polish! Don't get me wrong I love the smell of furniture polish... I just don't like the smell of it on my skin as I'm sure most people wouldn't.
      Another downside is of course the price, now I wouldn't mind paying this much for an amazing tanner but this is just a gradual tan and I'm sure most people could get through a bottle within a week or two if they use it everyday. As I said earlier I did not pay for this, it was free with a magazine but I still don't think it would repurchase it with my own money!   This product can be purchased from the St Tropez website for £14.30

Are there any good points?
      The packaging. I absolutely love all the St Tropez packaging, I think its so sleek and good looking. I don't like packaging to be too flamboyant; I like simple and elegant.

What do you think overall?
     Overall I would say that it is a very nice product but its not brilliant. The products itself is good, it gives you a lovely bronzy glow although personally its not dark enough for me. The smell I thoroughly dislike on my skin and of course the price isn't great either.

So this is what the cream looks like, just like any other moisturiser although close up you can see flecks of the dark pigment that obviously builds up the gradual tan.    Do excuse my tattoo :L

And this is what you skin looks like a couple of seconds after it is rubbed in and this is the glow I was talking about! You can really see it in the pictures and I think it is lovely. I will continue to use the product to see if I can get over the smell and start to enjoy it! But seriously...that glow is awesome.

What do you think of the St Tropez Gradual Tan. Do you like it?

Nails of the Week Featuring L.A Colours Varnish

Hey guys!

So yes it has been a while since my last post! I don't know what's wrong with me, I can't seem to stick to a schedule! 

But today I thought I would ease back in with a nail post, I'm just going to be showing you what I plan on wearing on my nails for the next week and what products I used!

So these are the products I used. I used an L.A Colours Nail Varnish in Figi Purple, this nail varnish also has a built in nail harder which i can vouch for. I also used a little pot of nail glitter on my ring finger over the top of the nail varnish.

So this is what they looked like finished. Just to clarify I am wearing acrylic nails, I did originally have the colour on my natural nails but I ripped half of one of my nails off at work and I cant stand the feeling of a broken nail so I put my acrylics on! In the previous photo I referred to the nail harder that is built into the nails varnish and you can definitely tell, when I had it on my natural nails they definitely felt a lot stronger. My nails were quite weak feeling before I applied the nail varnish because I was previously wearing some false nails and the glue damages them! Oh and the L.A colour nail varnish is super fast drying, one of the fastest drying nail varnishes I've tried in a long time. And as for the glitter on my ring finger all I did was sprinkle it over the wet nail varnish then put a clear top coat over the top of it :)

I think these nail varnishes retail for 99p which in my eyes is an absolute bargain. I did not purchase this nail varnish, I in fact saw my mum using it and asked her if I could try it and I'm very glad that I did! It is brilliant.

So even though this was only meant to be me showing you my nails for the week, I've actually ended up giving you a small review! So all in all, I hope you like this post and I would definitely recommend the nail varnish I used. Definitely going to be trying more colours!! 

Review | MAC Lipstick | Watch Me Simmer

Hey everyone! 

So today I am going to do a quick review of a lipstick I have been loving lately! It is a M.A.C lipstick in Watch Me Simmer, and it is an amplified colour. So this lipstick is from the 'Reel Sexy' collection although you can still purchase it from the permanent line.

Here is a swatch for you, sometimes the colours can differ when on the lips so this is the colour straight out of the tube.

Here is what the lipstick looks like on my lips, I think the lighting is making it look a bit different to the colour on my hand because it was taken by the window. The colour is more like the one on my hand but a bit deeper. 

Overall I really do love this colour, its obviously a quite intense lipstick but I feel that its not too bright to wear during the day. I in fact wear it during the day on a regular basis, its lovely and creamy and doesn't dry your lips out at all. It does last most of the day and even when it wears off it still leaves a nice pink stain on your lips. I would give this lipstick a 5/5! 

Review: Glamour Magazine & Benefit!

Hey everyone!

So I know you all probably know about the free Benefit Products that are being given away with Glamour magazine but I still thought I would do a post about it and tell you what I think of the product I got! So I didn't actually get to pick what product I got with the magazine, my mum was popping to the shop so I gave her some money and asked her to grab me one. Now the Bad Gal Lash was probably the last one out of all the products that I wanted, but hey ho, beggars cant't be choosers! 

So the Badgal lash is meant to be 4.0g but in all honesty I personally think its just an over sized tube with a tiny bit of product in, but what can you expect for £2? Although the packaging is really good quality and its a really good size if you want to take a mascara on the go!

The brush is very large which is good and bad, it does pack a lot of product on it which is good for thicker lashes although the fact that it is so big does make it hard to get the outer lashes, so I couldn't really get a lot of length.

First off, this photo makes my eyes look really wonky but they don't look that bizarre in real life! I did put the mascara over another one but the older one had sort of worn off. Overall the mascara is nice but not great! Its just an average mascara, although I think it would be better when its layered so I'm probably going to use it along side other mascaras!

EDIT: I actually have just tried the mascara by itself and I take the word 'average' back, its actually pretty good, its made my lashes massive!!

Real Techniques Stippling Brush vs The Beauty Blender

Hello my lovelies! 

So sorry I haven't posted in long time, I don't know what's wrong with me I always put off posting! I never really think I have anything interesting to post about and I'm also more of a video girl but hey ho I'm going to try and get back into the swing of things! 

I thought that today I would do a review/ comparison of the Real Techniques Stippling Brush and the Beauty Blender.   

Sorry the brushes are dirty but I'm in a bit of a rush so I didn't really have time to wash them! :)

So I first purchased the beauty blender and when I tried it I was in a rush so it sort of came out patchy and it didn't really look that appealing! I then purchased the Stippling brush and when I first tried it I was very impressed! My foundation blended in really well and it overall left a really nice finish, I carried on using this for a week or so. Then today I found myself with some extra time so I thought I would try the Beauty Blender again, the first time I tried it I sort of just swirled it around my face (there is no better way to describe it :L) but today instead I dotted the foundation around my face and used the blender to dab it into my skin. Now this method does take a bit longer but I found that it left really nice results, it doesn't even look like I'm wearing foundation.

Both the Beauty Blender and the Stippling Brush both have their up and downsides, so I'm going to give you a list of each!

Beauty Blender	Stippling Brush
Advantages	Advantages
Cheap - I purchased mine off eBay for around £4.	Leaves a very nice finish.
Made of a strong material.	Soft on the skin.
Leaves a natural finish.	Flared out bottom so it can stand alone.
Small and compact, easy for travel.	Quick and easy to apply foundation.
Disadvantages	Disadvantages
Takes a bit longer to achieve a nice finish as oppose to the brush.	Its fairly expensive
Make up on the sponge is more easily transferable to clothing etc.	Sometimes it doesn't blend as well on my nose, you can see brush marks.

Overall I would give the beauty blender a 4.5/5 and I would give the stippling brush a 4/5. I think that after today I've become a firm lover of the beauty blender, I'm so glad I gave it another chance and I would say that personally for me it JUST pips the stippling brush to the post! Although saying this the Stippling brush is still absolutely amazing! I would definitely recommend them both! 

This is a photo of how the beauty blender worked with my foundation. 

Simple Leopard Print Nails!

So again I got this tutorial off 'cutepolish' on YouTube and I thought I would show you how mine came out and what I did!

1. Paint nails a base colour, a colour a bit browner than the one I used would be better!
2. Then randomly paint some dots with a brown nail varnish
3. And finally paint some lines around the brown dots with some black nail varnish as well as some little black messy dots by themselves.
4. Finish with a clear coat.

This is really really easy to do and just to prove it, above is a picture of my right hand and we all know how hard it is to paint your nails with your left handed if you're not usually that handed.

Mothers Day Present Idea's

Hey guys! I know its quite late for a Mothers day post seeing as it is on Sunday but you might be a last minute shopper like me so thought I would take you through what I have bought my mum for mothers day! I love my mum to bits and every year she always tells me and my sisters not to get her anything but of course we always do! She's always very busy and gets tired so I thought I would do her a sort of 'pamper bag', in it I've included bits and bobs that she's said she wanted but never got.

I'll now take you through everything I got her! 

So the first two things are both Soap and Glory, I got her 'Hand Food' (£5.00) and 'Heel Genius' (£5.50). She's on her feet most of the day and she's always moving stuff about with her hands or washing up so she gets painful hands and feet. So I thought these would be great for her, now this is embarrassing to say but she does like me to give her foot rubs, hand massages and facials so I thought I could do that for her on Mothers day using these products (I'm such a lovely daughter :P)

The next lot of photos weren't taken by me because I have ordered these products but they haven't arrived yet. I've noticed that she doesn't really have many nice body washes or lotions for when she has a bath or shower. So I thought I would get her some, these are from superdrug and were both £2.05, I didn't think she would like the more sweeter/kiddy scents and I did want to get her the lemon or mango one but they were out of stock so I chose these ones!

I also got her two MUA nail polishes, I remember her buying one a while ago and telling me how she loved the colours and liked how fast they dried. The blue one is shade 1 and the bronzey one is shade 7, she's obviously a more mature lady so I didn't want to get her any really bright colours! These are £1 each.

The other day she mentioned how she really wanted to wear blusher but it doesn't suit her because she has got more of an oily face so I thought I would get her a peachy cream blusher as the texture of it would blend in a lot better with the rest of her face. This is the 'Gosh Natural Touch Cream Blusher in 004 Silky Rose' and it was £4. And finally she has been using my Herbal Essences smooth and soft intensive mask, so I thought I would get her one of her own as I know she loves it, this was £3.99

I was planning on getting her a lot more but my wages hasn't gone in! So hopefully I'll pick her up a few more bits tomorrow! When buying a mothers day present try and think about what she actually wants, has she mentioned anything that she wants to you over the past couple of months? Just think about what she'll like and appreciate! :)

Hope you enjoyed this, bye my lovelies!