NYC Sephora Beauty Haul

Ah Sephora.  You offer so much promise with your beautifully lined stores full of my favourite things.  I am soooo glad these are not in the UK.  I'd never be able to save any money!

Needless to say I spent ages in there (I meant 2 hours at least) and I also spent a small fortune!  Loved it though.  And the boyf dutifully stayed with me the entire time.  Well, no, actually he stayed in the mens fragrance section and located 3 amazing aftershaves!

Here's what I got…

As you can see I went a bit crazy over lip products!  No idea why.  

So far, I've only tried the L'Occitane Hand Cream (amazing but I already knew this), the Clinique Chubby Sticks (great colour but not so long wearing), both NARS lippies (swatches coming soon), the big pink lip balm (review coming soon) and the perfumes (both of which I'd say it took me an hour to choose because I was being so fussy and only wanted perfumes I was crazy about - these fit the bill).

I am pretty excited to FINALLY get on the OCC train around 3 years late!

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I'm Back! Having lost some weight, got engaged and returned from an amazing holiday!

Ok, so it's been a while to say the least.

I've been wondering whether or not to carry on with this blog - mainly because I feel that I don't want to just blog about beauty any more.  In fact, I would rather blog about anything and everything and therefore it felt like my blog was slightly restrictive given it was titled a beauty blog.

Also, I don't quite feel like the name of my url really works for me anymore.  I mean, everyone grows up a bit right?  Having said that, I am sticking with it for now but I have changed the title and I am going to blog about things that interest me in the hope that the content may interest you too.

Before I get started, here's a little update of what's been going on with me…

Most excitingly, after 9.5 years together me and the boyf are engaged!

The boyf (or should I say fiancé) proposed to me on an amazing trip to NYC for my boyfriend's 30th within the past month - I am VERY excited!

Also, NYC was amazing - I was there for 10 nights and ate loads, shopped lots and walked for miles and miles!

I've also lost quite a lot of weight over the summer (although in NYC I ate and drank what I wanted), as like a lot of girlies out there I tend to gain the lbs in winter.  I'm am now a regular at the gym - which is something I have been trying to achieve for 10 years!

I've also got into baking - which is not so good for the diet/healthy eating lifestyle!  That said, it is more so that I can take sweet goods home to the family when I see them rather than so that I can gorge myself to death on baked goods haha!

Other than that there is not much more to report.  Obviously I do still have an addiction to beauty products so there are lots of beauty reviews to come.

I also love food though and clothes so expect to see a lot more on that front also!

Bye for now!

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FOTD - MAC Ruby Woo Making a Reappearance

MAC Studio Fix Fluid Foundation - NC 30

Estee Lauder Double Wear Foundation - Fresco

Bobbi Brown Corrector - Bisque

Bobbi Brown Concealer - Pale Yellow

MUA Gel Eyeliner - Underground

Lancome Liquid Eyeliner - Black

Ardell Fashion Lashes - Demi Whispies

MAC Ruby Woo Lipstick

Revlon Lip Butter - Candy Apple

Rimmel Translucent Powder

In case you were wondering, my dress is from In Love with Fashion.

It's my new favourite dress and I am definitely getting it in other colours!

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Summer Celebrity Scents To Try

Hmmmm which to wear???

I am absolutely loving these two celeb perfumes at the moment.

On the left is Taylor Swift's Wonderstruck Enchanted and on the right is Britney Spears' Island Fantasy. 

I love having new perfumes for summer - there is something about the warmer weather that makes me want light, summery, fresh scents.  In winter I prefer heavier, spicier scents.

Wonderstruck Enchanted

This perfume really reminds me of soap and glory's signature scent for their Clean on Me Shower Cream.  Which I love.

It's created with Elizabeth Arden - very floral and sweet, but not so much so that it gives you a headache!  I'd describe it as perfectly feminine and lasts all day.

I love the uber girlie packaging - the charms are an absolute winner for me.  I always love charms on perfume bottles!

It retails at £21 - £38 depending on size (30ml - 100ml) and can be purchased at Boots, Superdrug, Debenhams and The Perfume Shop.

Britney Spears - Island Fantasy

This perfume is totally different to the first one but equally as nice. 

This one reminds me totally of a tropical holiday!  I absolutely love it.  It smells of limes, all things tropical and really fresh. 

It literally reminds me of a tropical drink you would have at a holiday resort.  I absolutely love how bright the packaging is and the diamante bits around the bottle.  So pretty and looks like the sun bouncing off the sea to me!

Britney Spears Island Fantasy Perfume retails at £24 - £34 (50ml - 100ml) at Boots, Superdrug, Debenhams and The Fragrance Shop.

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Barbara Daly Nail Polish - Spring/Summer 2013 Collection

Barbara Daly Summer Nail Varnish - £5.00

(L-R shades - Fondant Fancy, Cola Cube, Butterscotch and Marshmallow)

These pretty colours are perfect for summer and a total bargain at £5.00.  Too tempting to leave when shopping for groceries at Tesco eh!

I absolutely love these colours and think they are perfect for my toe nails to wear with flip flops now that the weather looks to be picking up.  Nothing will replace my gel polishes for my fingernails, but the last thing I can be bothered to do is apply it to my toe nails.  No way man!  Did it for my holiday in October and it lasted for bloody ages before I finally got ready to soak it off!

Plus I do like to change my toenail colour on a regular basis depending on my mood and what I am wearing (daytime = light colours, night time = dark colours).

So needless to say these are going to be great!  Have any of you picked these up??

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Revlon Photoready BB Cream First Impression Review

Click on Photo to see closer up version!

So I recently purchased this BB Cream.  I've got to be honest, I'm more of a heavy coverage kind of girl but from time to time I do like to lighten my foundation (usually when the weather picks up).  Therefore when I was shopping in Boots the other day I picked up a tube of Revlon's Photoready BB Cream to see whether it was any good. 

It retails at £9.99 from Boots.

Now Revlon say the following about this product:-

- HYDRATES like moisturizer

- SMOOTHES like primer
- COVERS like foundation
- BLURS FLAWS like concealer
- PROTECTS with SPF 30 like sunscreen

 Here's what I say...

Pros

• Moisturising
• Good Colour Match
• Little bit goes quite far

Cons

• Makes my skin look greasy
• Feels heavy and greasy on skin
• Does nothing to smooth complexion or cover imperfections

Ok, so I wasn't expecting miracles here.  I mean, I am a heavy coverage girl because my skin isn't so amazing.  Particularly now that I am hitting the gym everyday.  Let me tell you sweat does not aid the complexion. 

However, I would expect more of a smoothing effect from this.  To me this is nothing more than a tinted moisturiser, which is why I would only wear this under my foundation. 

I would not recommend this product unfortunately, despite ordinarily being a big fan of Revlon. Sorry - this time you just didn't do it for me!

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Bobbi Brown Hydrating Eye and Face Cream - Still My Favourites

Bobbi Brown Hydrating Eye Cream and Face Cream

I literally cannot seem to live without these two beauties.  And I have tried.  It just doesn't work though, nothing works for my skin as well.

I don't know about you, but I am finding that more and more things are irritating my skin, especially with the horrendous British weather at the moment.  It is so depressing living in England!  (well, when you consider the weather anyway - I love home the rest of the time).

As a result, my skin feels like it is getting drier and drier.  Foundation, cleansers, air con and the gym are causing absolute chaos with my skin.  So try as I might, I just couldn't wait any longer and had to repurchase these.

It' like the millionth time I have had these, but as they are so expensive I like to dabble with other products in case I find they are replaceable.  I have tried so many drugstore and more high end creams without success.  Especially when it comes to the eye cream.

I find that these eye creams are very moisturising without being greasy.  The texture is thicker than a normal moisturiser I find but it blends into the skin really easier and creates the perfect makeup base - I never use a primer with these.  If I use any other eye cream, I look around 10 years older!

I buy these from House of Fraser.  The eye cream was £29 and the face cream was £36.  They can be purchased here.

Pros

Moisturising
Non greasy
Great Makeup Base
Smoothing
Non-irritating
Lasts months as you only need a little

Cons

Expensive
Addictive!

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