First Impressions: Haus Of Gloi

IT SMELLS LIKE HEAVEN!
*ahem*

Just a quick post for you all today as i felt i REALLY needed to share the love on some new products I'd purchased recently. Now, its too early to give a full blown review, and I'm planning on placing another order and reviewing them all together, but i just had to share.

Haus Of Gloi is a handmade, vegan, 100% cruelty free, independant bath, body and fragrance company. And i have completely fallen in love. I'd been hearing about them online recently through a Facebook group I'm in and after reading the scent descriptions i knew i had to have some. So i placed a little order (after a lot of debating over scents) for two of their Pumpkin Butters. They arrived safely in little over a week which is great considering they are a USA based company. Firstly, even the little thank you note smells amazing. My Mum reckons it smells of coffee, my nose picks up more tea and smoke (but in a gooooood way), either way, it smells beaut! And that's just the card! 

Satyr
"Absolutely fiendish creature! And quite frolicsome: Italian blood orange drizzled with blackened vanilla." - A little different than i expected but the scent lingers on the skin all day and smells magnificent!

Twice is Nice
"Sweetest offerings of opulence! Buttery sugar cookie, with shavings of creamy coconut and topped with toasted almond slivers!" - Smells exactly like the description, but not in an overly sickly way.

Twice is Nice is definitely my favourite out the two. To me it smells like almondy, coconutty, sugary shortbread, ooooh how good i am at descriptions. BUT I CANNOT STOP SNIFFING IT, IT IS HEAVENLY! They are such complex scents that smell a lot pricier than they are. I also received a sample of their perfume oil in Beguiled, which has now got my lusting over a full size of it... and the Pumpkin Butter. I am in LOVE.

As first impressions go, this has got to be one of the bests!

Have you tried any of the Haus Of Gloi scents?
If so, recommend me a few! Not that i need encouraging!

xox

Recent Rediscoveries: MUFE HD Foundation

Ello lovelies!
This has got to be one of the top, if not the most hyped about foundation on the Internet and since picking this up at IMATS earlier on in the year has pretty much sat in my collection unloved. I'm a bit of a floozy when it comes to foundations, i love them and having a perfect base is my top priority when it comes to makeup. So needless to say i own a good few, so with my spending ban i decided to hook a few oldies out and give them a fair test.

In the UK Makeup Forever isn't the easiest to get hold of, it is available from Guru Makeup Emporium online but at £29.95 a pop, I'm not sure i would of taken the plunge at that price. So i jumped at the chance to pick this up for a far more reasonable £18 at London IMATS in February. When i first tried this many months ago i couldn't really get on with it, i was into applying foundation with my F80 and i just couldn't, for love nor money, get it right. So when i went back to try this out i went for the good ol' fashioned fingers application, and unsurprisingly it worked much better!

Now from the hype online i was a little disappointed with the coverage, its light - medium at best and if you suffer with uneven skin tone / ache / blemishes you'll probably still have to use concealer. For me, this would be a day time foundation purely because of the coverage, i prefer my Double Wear for nighttime because it covers most things and i KNOW its not going to budge.

Its a very "natural" looking foundation and to me feels lovely and moisturising on the skin. I don't feel the need to set this as its not overly dewy but not completely matte, and it works beautifully with creme blushes and highlighters. I know i always say this, but i really do wish I'd hooked this out my collection sooner. I've worn it every day for the past week (Sorry Nars Sheer Glow!!) to work as i love the very little effort involved in applying it.

Face:
Makeup Forever - HD Foundation - Shade #110
Collection 2000 - Lasting Perfection Concealer
Makeup Forever - Smoky Lash Mascara
Stila Convertible Colour - Petunia
L'occitane - Lip Balm

Overall its a really lovely, light, day foundation. Would i buy it again? At regular price, probably not. But at IMATS price, yes! Now i need to stop being a foundation hoarder and stick to one for more than a couple of weeks. But I've recently discovered they now sell Dr Jart BB Creams in Boots?!! My bank balance hates me...

Whats your "go to" foundation? 

xox

Spending ban... What spending ban?!

Hiya Lovelies!
So about that spending ban...

Everyone needs a little treat now and then so after working way more than i have done over the last year and having much less fun than usual i thought it was about time to buy a couple of new "necessary" bits and bobs. So i thought I'd share my little collective haul from the past month.

GHD - Glossy Back Straighteners
I've needed a new pair of GHD's for quite some time now as mine were reaching their 7th birthday and not really performing like they used to. I really begrudge paying a ton on hair care items so the thought of spending around £100 on a pair of these wasn't really a happy thought. I found these beauties for £84 on Look Fantastic, although i cannot find them again now they were a lot cheaper than the same style on other websites. Win!

Banana Boat - Aloe Vera Gel
I spent my Boots point on this so it doesn't really count as breaking my spending ban. I wasn't going to include this as its really just boring sun care, but as its the run up to my holiday, buying things like this puts a big ol' grin on my face. Also on smelling this it brought back memories of my last stay in the USA. So a lot of smiles from a pretty boring buy!

New Look - Sunglasses
Another little holiday buy! Something about these screamed CUTE and Hello Kitty at me so i HAD to have them. Its not often i find sunglasses in a flattering shape for my face that are this cute! New Look had a BOGOF promotion on their sunglasses so i got two pairs (the second not quite as cute) for £4.99.

Origins - Drink Up Overnight Mask
So this little beauty has been doing the blogging rounds so i wont go into too much detail until i get round to reviewing it. But after seeing all the "What i take travelling" videos and posts this product really intrigued me. For some reason I'd had it in my head that Origins was SUPER pricey, I'm not one to spend £40 on a cream even though I've been lusting after some of their Mega Mushroom range for quite a while now. So when i found out this was £20, 100ml and perfect for my skin type, i just had to have it!

Chinovi Cosmetics - Minis
If you've read my blog for a while you would know i have a soft spot for indie cosmetics. I think a lot of indie brands have something special due to the time, effort and creativity that goes into their products. Chinovi is a relatively new brand and after seeing Beauty's Bad Habits swatch post i knew i had to order some. The website is SO easy to navigate and my goodies arrived within a week, preciously packed with some added American sweeties. ADORABLE. I cannot wait to review them!

China Glaze - I'm Not Lion
After reading Powdered Almond's post on I'm Not Lion i had to have this polish, right this second! I literally ordered it within two minutes of reading the post. It is one of the prettiest polishes i have ever seen. Its an absolutely stunning champagney, beigey glitter with multi coloured flecks, god i suck at descriptions. Simply put, its gorgeous, go check it out!

IPhone 4S
Another one that doesn't count towards my spending ban since it was an upgrade. So i have now jumped on the iphone bandwagon, so at some point in the near future, when i can work it all out (god i feel old), expect some Instagramming from me!


So that's it! A bit of a modest haul from me for now if you ignore the GHD's *slaps wrist*

Have you bought anything naughty lately? Feel free to link in the comments!

xox

Nars Sheer Glow Review & FOTD

Ello lovelies!

Its taken me a LONG time to do, but finally i've gotten round to doing this review. The main reason being my love / hate relationship with this product, which I'll get into later!

I picked this up maybe two months ago at a Space NK, i was REALLY looking forward to being able to see this in person as we don't have one locally. The assistant was nice enough to try it on for me, after battling to get my doublewear off and her applying a smidge too much bronzer i decided i LOVED the finish. So off i skipped with my pretty (expensive) new foundation. We were having a heatwave at the time so we waddled down to the beach for an hour which was lovely! I did have an allmighty shock when i got home and discovered that it really wasn't just a smidge too much bronzer, but i looked pretty tangoed, cringe!

Here's what Nars have to say about it...

"A glowing, satin-finish foundation with sheer and buildable coverage. Replete with skincare benefits and the NARS Complexion Brightening Formula, skin is hydrated, more luminous, softer and smoother. Used daily, Sheer Glow Foundation improves skin brightness, radiance and texture. For normal to dry skin types."

So i've been using this on and off since i purchased it and yes, it is ever so slightly too dark for my skin tone, but blended out its really not that noticeable. The first shade was SO yellow on me it was unbelievable. So this is where my love / hate relationship started... Some days i absolutely LOVED the finish... some days, well not so much. Applied with a damp sponge it gives what the name would suggest, a sheer, glowy finish which i really love.

I had a few fails when trying to apply it in other ways, using a buffing brush it just looked too obvious and even slightly cakey on my skin. Using fingers it applies with much more coverage, not sheer or glowy at all and can be built up to more of a medium coverage without going cakey and more is a bit hit or miss on me. Using fingers is definitely the option of choice if you want / need more coverage. Until the past few weeks i'd be using different primers and i've found that Benefits Porefessional works best for my skin, it makes it SO much easier to apply and actually makes the foundation last quite a lot longer throughout the day.

So that really explains my slightly undecided view on this product. If I'm looking for something quick and easy to slap on, this isn't it for fear of cocking it up. But if i've got a little more time to work with this has been my foundation of choice, using my fingers to work it into the skin. With that method I'd agree with Nars on that it's satin finish, not completely matte, but certainly not sheer or glowy in the slightest as the name suggests. But with its downsides i am enjoying using it and managed to get a few snaps of me wearing it shopping the other day below!

Face:
Nars - Sheer Glow - Monte Blanc
Nars - Laguna Bronzing Powder
Benefit - Erase Paste
Milani - Coralina BlushElf - HD Powder

It’s such a hyped foundation and an expensive one at that, would i buy it again? Erm.... probably not? I say probably because if i manage to have a eureka moment and learn how to apply it properly every time i probably would, although i really dislike spending £30 on a foundation. But if not, it’s a bit too much hassle for me, I'd much rather repurchase my Double Wear or get a new sneaky BB cream, or two.

Have you tried it?
Did you love / hate it or are you still undecided like me?

Nars Sheer Glow is available online at the Nars UK and online and in Space NK stores across the country.

xox

My Top 5 Lipsticks

 Hiya Lovelies! 

Another of my "Top Five" posts for you today! I had real trouble when picking products for this one as I’ve really been loving lip products lately. Now, i have quite a small lip collection as they are something I’ve never been too confident about and "Back 2 Mac" has made my collection lean rather Mac heavy. So to put it bluntly, i couldn't pick just five from all of them, so i narrowed it down to my top bullet form lipsticks. That's not cheating, right? And it also gives me the chance to do another lip related post, bonus!

So yes three of them are Mac, but considering half my collection is Mac, its not that bad! But yes i really do need to branch out with my lip products. And don't worry; I’ve got my eye on some new pretties as we speak!

Mac - Pink Burst
This was a little hidden gem i found at my local Cosmetics Company Outlet late last year. Sadly it was limited edition and google tells me if was from a spring collection in 2010, but I'm hoping it'll get a re-promote at some point because i think it’s an amazing shade! It’s a blue based pink that is perfect for my pale complexion and its chock full of fuchsia glitter. Love! I also love that although it’s full of glitter it’s not at all gritty, as rough lippies are one of my pet peeves. It has great pigmentation, wears really well and makes my teeth look whiter, which is always a plus. I'm just shocked I’ve not heard much on the blogosphere about this shade.

Wet 'n' Wild - Don't Blink Pink
So i love to watch the odd beauty YouTube video and the Wet 'n' Wild Mega Last Lipsticks kept reappearing in favourites and hauls from the USA. So of course i went on the eBay hunt and bagged two for just £3 each, and i am SO glad i did. Don't Blink Pink is probably the brightest colour i own, it really does pack a punch in the colour department. It’s completely opaque with one swipe and leans towards the matte side, which I’m really loving lately. I also find that because it’s a slightly drier formula it wears AMAZINGLY, i feel confident that i don't need touch ups every 10 minutes. And even though it is a drier texture it doesn't really dry my lips out. For a $2 lipstick they are gorgeous and i am really looking forward to picking up a whole load more on holiday.

Mac - Rebel
Now this one gets a lot of love online, and for good reason. Rebel was my favourite shade to wear over the colder months last year. It’s a purplish berry shade that would work well on most skin tones and my lip swatch really does not do it justice. It wears a lot darker on my pale complexion than it appears on camera which is why it’s my winter love. So although it’s not been getting much use over the last few months it really does deserve to be in my top five, it’s a real stunner of a shade.

 Revlon Lip Butter - Peach Parfait
Meet my "lazy" lipstick. This has probably gotten the most use over any lip product in my collection because it is just so easy to wear. Its sheer enough to apply without a mirror without fearing looking like a clown, but adds just enough colour and shimmer to give a sort of "my lips but better" effect. I was a bit bummed at first at the pigmentation of it, but the sheerness of it makes it wearable with nearly anything which is why it has its place constantly in my handbag!

Mac - Costa Chic  

If summer was a lipstick it would be this one. Costa Chic is a gorgeous summery coral colour that i wish I’d purchased sooner. For some time now I’d be avoiding corals like the plague, convinced that on my fair skin it’d give me that tangoed glow that everyone dreads. But how wrong was i? I absolutely love this lipstick! I normally pair it with Nyx's Pinky Lip Pencil, purely because i don't own a coral one yet (not to self, eBay!). My only little niggle is i wish it wasn't a glaze finish, purely because it leaves me on the hunt for matte corals that are just as flattering.

So that’s my Top Five lipsticks!

What are your favourites? Let me know!

xox