Sunshine Award

A week or so ago I was thrilled to see that the lovely Sadie from Butterfly Wings had nominated me for the Sunshine Award - thank you honey x
The rule is that to accept the award you must nominate 12 other blogs sorry I can't nominate you all but here we go x:)

Dainty Dollymix
Peonies and lilies
Melovemakeup

Alice In A New Wonderland
Beauty and The Blog
Beautylicious Love

Computer Girls Musings
Desi Girl Does Make Up
Emerald Green 88

Happy1234
Lipstick Rules
Secret Beauty Blog

Bourjois Healthy Mix Foundation and Concealer Review and FOTD

About a month ago I saw quite a few bloggers and you tubers raving about the new Bourjois foundation and concealer - being willing enabled I bought both products last month. The foundation in question was Bourjois Healthy Mix and the concealer Bourjois Healthy Mix Radiance and Anti Fatigue. I picked up the colour No 52 Vanilla in the foundation and No 52 Medium Radiance in the Concealer but I could have also got away with the lighter shade too I think. I've had a chance to try them out properly now so I thought I'd let you know what I think.

The foundation comes in 30ml pump action bottle - 3 cheers for foundation pumps they make life so much easier

Containing their "Fruit Therapy" complex of apricot, melon, apple and ginger it has a pleasant, subtle fruity smell. Bourjois claim that this foundation gives up to "16 hours of perfectly glowing complexion & toned skin" So what do I think, well yes I think I probably agree.

This foundation is probably medium in coverage, it's a good consistency and blends well both on top of bare skin and on top of moisturiser and primer - I found it easier to use my fingers or a damp sponge to apply it rather than a brush as I found it dried / sank in quite quickly. As I say I would say it's a medium coverage if you have a few blemishes this wouldn't necessarily hide them but on the positive side it certainly isn't mask like and your skin can still be seen through the foundation. It certainly gives a nice finish and glow to the skin although I did find that I needed a little bit of powder over my t-zone to stop the shine coming through - whether it lasts 16 hours I can't say because I have never worn it for that long but I have removed make up after about 7 hours and its still being intact


I also bought the corresponding Bourjois Healthy Mix Radiance and Anti Fatigue Concealer. This comes in a 10ml squeezy tube. Again it contains the "Fruit Therapy" complex with extracts of Apricot and Raspberry. It has a medium consistency and dispenses easily from the tube without too much mess. To use it I squeezed a little bit onto the back of my hand and used either my fingers or a concealer brush to blend it into my skin. I tried it in a few different ways as you'll see both to cover blemishes, and darkness and redness. I have to say being a radiance boosting concealer it worked much better on my dark circles and redness than it did on my (numerous at the moment) spots and blemishes.

So time to see some pictures of both these products in action :)

My Before Face



Note the redness and the spots argh

My After Face


After using the foundation and concealer - the redness is pretty much gone and my skin tone looks much more ever

My Before Eyes



OK they aren't that bad but you can see some redness, some darkness and generally uneven skin tone

My After Eyes



Much better don't you think the concealer really came into it own here - my skin is much more even in colour and in tone and it looks a lot healthier

Spot Central Before

Not pleasant I'm afraid some nice hormonal breakout for you

Spot Central After Foundation

After one application of the foundation you can see the difference with regards to the redness but the spots are still there

Spot Central After Foundation and Concealer


OK you can still see the spots a bit (that's what I mean about you still been able to see the texture of the skin) but the redness and angriness has certainly eased and the skin looks a bit more even

So what do I think - I really like the foundation for me personally its a cheaper version of NARS Sheer Glow - it provides a nice radiance and glow to your skin whilst at the same time evening up my complexion. I will definitely be adding this to my purchase again list. I have mixed feeling about the concealer though - if radiance is what you want and darkness and redness are your concerns this is what you need but if like me its blemishes you need to cover this probably isn't the best one for you having said that I'll still use for the bits that need brightening I'll just need to use something else for the dreaded spots. Bourjois Healthy Mix Foundation retails for around £8.99-£10.99 and the Healthy Mix Concealer retails for between £5.99-£6.99 from your usual Bourjois outlets.

FOTD

Apologies that this post is a bit pic heavy but ince I did my foundation review pics today I thought I'd show you the rest of my FOTD - It was just a quick one I had to go along to the chemists early this morning for a prescription :)






Today I Wore
Bourjois Healthy Mix Foundation - 52 Vanilla
Bourjois Healthy Mix Concealer - 52 Medium Radiance
Models Prefer Neutralizing Yellow Powder
MAC MSF Porcelain Pink
ELF Studio Powder Blush - Tickled Pink
MAC Eyeshadow - Idol Eyes (applied wet)
Avon Daring Definition Cream Eyeliner - Black
Collection 2000 Collagen Curl Mascara - 17 Ultra Black (really hate this now its has only been open just over a month and it's drying up already)
MAC Lipstick -Fabby

my boohoo shopping experience :) and a rant

Here's something new for you a rare fashion focused post.I recently had a chat with one of my lovely followers on twitter and facebook, the lovely Layna aka Glam Gemini - me and Layna go way back lol and the other day we had a chat about boohoo fashion and whether I'd ever bought anything from them. To be honest I've bought bits and pieces over the years but I've always found the quality a bit hitty missy but after receiving yet another email from them I decided to have another look and I'm glad that I did. The site is now much easier to search and much quicker to load than it used to be - in the past it was one of the worst designed sites I've ever used it was difficult to navigate and sooo slow to load - thankfully that's all changed. It loads much quicker and it easier to navigate - it's all split into sections including new beauty items and quirky things :) I decided to order a few bits mainly a couple of t-shirts

love the puff shoulders on this one

a gorgeous vest I believe the print design is called Amber and it comes in a few other items including a dress, and a long sleeved top -its gorgeous and so now

I also ordered a bandeau summer dress in gorgeous coral and purple / blue ombre design- it's a little shorter than I would have liked (that's the one I meant Layna ;)) but it will be a great for holidays or on the beach

So that was my little lot - I have to say I was super impressed with the quality this time - it had certainly improved compared to some of my previous orders with them, and I was also pleased to see that some items are available in a size 16. I did find that delivery took a little longer this time about 5 days but I took their UK Saver Delivery Option which was £3.99 you can also get next day delivery for £4.99 :) It's also good to see that they now deliver to Ireland and the majority of Europe now too and they now offer free returns - all in all I was pretty happy with my experience - check them out at boohoo
I wasn't paid or compensated by boohoo for this post and I paid for all my bits myself I just thought I'd let you know about my experience since it was a company that has often been mentioned.

OK sorry to alter the happy theme of my post but it's all connected so time for a little rant. I'm finding I'm having to do more of these lately I really don't know what's wrong with people. I've recently had a blog comment about my hauling (which I chose not to publish for their sake as well as my own) that upset me quite a bit, as many of you on twitter and facebook know, so I thought I'd better clarify a few points - first of all what I buy and specifically how I pay for it has nothing to do with anybody else and I don't have to justify or explain anything to anybody on here -You as my readers don't know about my financial or personal situation and I don't know about yours and that's the way it should be - I am doing nothing illegal or immoral by shopping despite what some people think - my blog is a happy place where I can try to forget some of the stresses of my everyday life and I want to keep it that way - if you leave a comment that offends me or upsets me then don't expect to have it published or to receive a personal reponse and if you don't want to read about my hauls or gifts I suggest you unfollow - my life, my blog, my rules
There are some lovely people out there in the blogging world and I am not going to let a few people ruin it - love you all xx

Mini ELF Haul

I recently heard on Facebook that ELF had restocked their website with a few new products so guess what..I placed an order!
I only got three things the main one being this - their mineral blemish system - I am having major breakout issues at the moment and have a few really stubborn spots that just aren't clearing so I thought I'd give it a go. Basically it seems to be a translucent mineral powder that smells vaguely of tea tree - you use the little brush provided to brush it on to your spots as often as needed - I'm going to give it a go and I'll let you know what I think


I also picked up the lip lock which supposedly stops your lipstick bleeding


and another studio eyeshadow C brush - I love this it's great for applying shadow all over the lid

New Dresses :)

I ordered a few dresses last week and they came over the weekend :)
First of all I got this one from QVC of all places by a designer called Tiana B



It's a little more turquoise irl but I love it - it's one of these easy throw on dresses that will be great with bare legs and flips flops or even with black tights or leggings :)

I also got this one from a mail order company called Bon Prix - I hadn't heard of them until I got a catalogue through the post and I fell in love with this maxi dress - it was less than £15 faints

You can't see in this pic but it isn't a bandeau it's actually has adjustable tie, shoestring straps - so pretty I really like the idea of the yellow version too - lets just hope we get a nice summer so I can wear it :)

Operation Nail Growth 2 Week Update

OK so I promised you an update on operation nail growth after 2 weeks - this month I am trialling the Pro Strong nail system and I have to say so far so good.
My nails have definitely grown as you can see specifically by my left thumbnail
Two weeks ago

Today

Here are some more pics I took today if you check back at my post at the start of the pro strong trial there is a bit of a difference so far (click here to see it)


My cuticles still aren't great so I am going to go back to the Jessica nail oil which I will be using alongside the Pro Strong cuticle products. All in all so far so good - my hands have been in and out of water and I've been doing a lot more housework so they've taken a bit of a battering and I've still seen results - I'll update you in two weeks with more details on the range and my one month results :)

Sunday Baking

When I was younger I would always make Sunday my baking day - I have done anything for a while on a Sunday but today I decided to get my mixing bowl out :) I bought a large bar of Galaxy Caramel the other day and decided to put it to good use by making something I'd made before, this Chocolate Caramel Nugget Recipe from the lovely Cherrapeno :) Please check her out if you haven't already her blog features the most drool worthy recipes :) Anyway as per usual if was pretty easy to adapt to a gluten free version I just use M&S Gluten Free Flour Mix, and an extra egg yolk and a tiny bit of milk. It makes a very soft cookie dough so I found it easier to shape the dough around the chocolate squares rather than cut out circles like she does - these are indeed yummy and are well worth trying even better if you serve them slightly warm so the chocolate and caramel oozes out- They work equally well with Cadburys Caramel and I imagine they would be good with the new Werthers Soft Chocolate Caramels - drooool!!! -enjoy x





(p.s. Mine are just sprinkled in cocoa powder I can't find the icing sugar grrrrr)

I've also included some pics of my dinner which was yum - nachos, with cheese and salsa and a green salad with chargrilled courgettes :)

Sleek Purchases

Monday of this week saw the protracted launch of the new Sleek Cosmetics website - me being me I couldn't resist a little purchase just to check out their service. I placed my order late on Monday night and my parcel came on Friday morning packaged in a black box with lots of hot pink tissue paper.
So what did I order? Well I had never tried any of their lip products other than the Pout Polish so I thought I would try some lipsticks.

First up I ordered a True Colour Lipstick in 840 Rose Petal

and I also ordered a Sheer Cover lipstick in 812 Organza

I also ordered one of the Luminous Pressed Powder in the lightest shade LPP01 - I'm really liking this so far :)

They also included a free gift of a mini phone charm strawberry glitter lipgloss

All in all I was pretty impressed with my Sleek experience but I have subsequently noticed how quickly items seem to have gone out of stock :( Did anyone else order anything or does anyone have any more Sleek recommendations ?