Acrorelle Epiliation -The Not So Glamorous Side Of Beauty - 2 Reviews For My Pure

Right guys lets cut to the chase this isn't a glamorous blog post, no pretty make up here, instead it's about one of less pretty side of beauty, body and facial hair. I can feel you backing off now but please don't hear me out x
For some reason now body and facial hair is seen as a big no no, we wax it, shave it, epilate it and cream it off in order to look good. It's probably one of the least exciting parts of our beauty routine but we all do it. The trouble is the majority of hair removal methods don't last, within a week sometimes we are back where we started, not only that but with some hair removal methods our poor skin suffers big style, leaving it irritated, sensitive and often sore and with ingrown hairs.
Having previously tried and been impressed with the Acorelle Epiliation Oriental Wax, in preparation for my summer holiday I decided two try two products from Acorelle as part of my August My Pure reviews to try and deal with some of these side effects of hair removal.

Acorelle Essential Epil Hair Growth Inhibitor Skin Glorifier - Face

OK, we'll start with probably the most taboo subject, facial hair, unless your super lucky we all have a bit of facial hair on the upper lip or the chin, if you have dark hair more often than not it will be noticeable. As my mum says you can't have it in one place and not another, so brace yourself here is a pic of my upper lip without hair removal

You can just about see them, I don't have a lot of facial hair but what I have it dark and it's quite noticeable because of my skin tone. I generally use either hair removal cream or I wax it off myself (yes I know I'm brave ;) If I'm being honest I do it about once a week. It's just become part of my weekly routine now I guess, but it's a pain. Looking through the My Pure inventory I noticed a product from Acorelle, the Skin Care Glorifier and Hair Growth Inhibitor - Face.

Ideal for anyone who suffers from thick hair regrowth on the upper lip and chin, the product contains a patented extract from the Black Truffle this product claims to reduce hair density by 80% in just 56 days as well as improving the look and feel of the skin.

The product comes boxed and packaged in a small slim squeezable tube

At the end of the tube there is a small slanted nozzle, which is made of a clear textured rubber

The product dispenses easily through the tube and you can use the wand to apply it without touching it. It had a pleasant and easily absorbed cream gel texture and a pleasant floral type smell (it also contains Damascus Rose extract). You may think the tube is quite small at just 8ml but a little does go a long way.

The instructions advise that you apply the product after hair removal preferably waxing for best results. I have to be honest and say I removed facial hair 3 times during the process of this trial, once with wax and twice with cream, so obviously this may have affected my results. I have seen some results with this product some hairs are still as stubborn as ever but some of the finer hairs do seem to be coming back at a slower rate. To be fair I don't think this is a product that you can say yes or no to after less than a month so it's one that I am going to persevere with, but if you are a facial waxer it might be something that's worth a try. Acorelle Essentiel Epil Hair Growth Inhibitor and Skin Glorifier - Face retails at £19.00 for 8ml at My Pure.

Acorelle Ingrown Hair Treatment

One of the byproducts of hair removal be it waxing or shaving is ingrown hairs - If your of a strong stomach or you not sure what an ingrown hair is click this link . Yes I admit it I do occasionally get the odd ingrown hair particularly on my bikini line and my underarms and do you know what they are not pleasant and they can really hurt! I've tried a lot of preparations including lots of alcohol and aspirin based products and yes they do work but more often than not they sting :( Looking at My Pures inventory I was interested to see a product specifically for dealing with ingrown hairs so I decided to give it a go.

The Acorelle Ingrown Hair Treatment whilst containing a small proportion of naturally produced alcohol, also contains a high volume of AHA's and fruit acids. This anti bacterial product helps to gently exfoliate the skin thus preventing blocked pores and ingrown hairs.

The products itself comes a pump action spray dispenser but you can also apply it using some clean cotton wool. It has a clear liquid texture and a very gentle herbal smell. For the few I've been apply the product specifically to my underarms and my bikini line and I have to say in that period of time I have had no ingrown hairs or lumps and bumps in either area, where as in the previous month I had at least two sore spots on my underarms. I didn't have overly high expectations for the this product, but I have to say I'm pretty impressed, it seems to do the job and guess what it doesn't sting one little bit even on freshly shaved areas. I will definitely continue to use this product ahead of the market leader (Tend Skin) which stings like hell on me. Acorelle Ingrown Hair Treatment retails at £8.99 for 50ml from My Pure.

Again I'm sorry for the less than gorgeous nature of this post but beauty isn't all about the glamour ;) Any questions please let me know xx

(Both Acorelle Products Were Supplied By My Pure For Review Purposes)

Nails Of The Day - Sparkles Make The World Go Round

Well it's time for another nails of the day and it's no surprise which one it is. When I bought this colour I said I couldn't wait to put it on my nails, but some how I managed to hold off I was feeling a bit bored so I painted my nails for about the zillionth time this week with this beauty

Of course it's Color Club 849 Fashion Addict, this is a gorgeous holographic pale lilac shade love it, I only wish you could get paint this colour :) If you could I would definitely paint my room this colour - apologies in advance for the slightly bad finish and cuticles I painted it in a bit of a rush

Pretty isn't it I am absolutely loving glitters and sparkles at the moment, let me know what you think?

Welcome To Another Week and Adios To A Bad One

Hey Guys
Well it's Monday again and to be honest I am delighted to see the back of last week, seeing my mum so ill really scared me, thankfully she's feeling much better now but she has two hospital appointments to look forward to, one to get to the bottom of her ear problems and the other to see her surgeon to arrange her last knee replacement. Still I'm trying to focus on the positives it's less than 2 weeks to my mums 70th birthday, yes she was classed as an older mother when she had me and despite a bit of stick at school for having an 'old' mum I wouldn't swap her for the world x I haven't got a lot of cash for a big pressie, so I'm thinking of other ways to treat her including some home baking and some personalised home made cards, and of course the delivery of a nice bouquet of flowers.

Despite a stressful week I managed to get quite a few posts up including my long awaited posts on the Make Up Academy basic line ( click here and here to read them ) and a few nails of the day posts. This week I have a few posts planned including 2 My Pure reviews focusing on the hairier side of life, my monthly summary, and maybe a few nails of the day posts, so I hope you'll stick around, don't forget I will be doing a little giveaway when I reach the 500 followers x Oh and don't forget to check out my blog sale, I added a few things yesterday and if you want something let me know asap I will be taking down the remaining items on Saturday and adding them to my rather large donation to Give and Make Up x Oh and I will be adding a few items to ebay this week including lots of Hello Kitty dolls, and lots more brand new shoes so don't forget to check it out x

If your in the UK I hope your all having a great Bank Holiday Monday, and I hope you all have a great week where ever you are xx

(Oh and if your wondering about the photos, they are things that have made me happy this weekend my babies, homemade pesto sauce, and a little bit of home baking - more on that to come ;)

Nails Of The Day - Sludge or Super?

If your a regular reader of my blog and in particular my nails of the day posts, you'll know that I've recently featured a lot of Essie colours, well here's another one for you - 731 Sew Psyched

I am sure that this colour will probably divide opinion but you know what I quite like it- a sort of sludgy, combat, khaki green, its completly different to anything else I own, this is two coats but once again one would probably be enough.

Whilst it may not be to everyones tastes I have to say I like it and I think it will be a great colour for Autumn, what do you think is it super or just sludgy?

Budget Beauty Series - Make Up Academy (MUA) Continued - Face, Cheeks and Nails

A few days ago I posted the first part of my focus on Make Up Academy's (MUA) basic line (click here to read it ) but I said there was more to come, so here it. As well as eye and lip products the MUA line also features a range of face and cheek products and of course nail polishes.

Nail Polish

One of the key products in the range that I was keen to try was the nail polishes, row upon row of pretty colours drew me in. Originally there were 18 polishes in the MUA basic line but this has since been expanded to 24 little bottles of loveliness. At only 6.5 mls a bottle you may think you aren't getting a lot but for just £1.00, these are a really good buy and are ideal for travel, holidays or for trying out colours you wouldn't normally go for. Like just about every mini polish you buy there are a few issues with the brushes but the polishes themselves are great quality for the price - I only have 3 polishes at the moment but I definitely want more, so on with the good bit, the pics :)

First up Shade 4 - a super hot coral shade, that is going to be a must in my holiday make up bag

Next up Shade 5, and the first one to catch my eye, a gorgeous minty, turquoise green

Finally a more recent purchase and another one that will be in my holiday bag, Shade 16, a lovely bright pink

Pretty aren't they are and for just a £1.00 you just can't argue x

Face

The only proper face product in the MUA basic range to my knowledge is a pressed face powder, I believe it comes in 4 shades and unsurprisingly I went for Shade 1, the palest one. At just £1.00 for 5.7g of product I have to say I was pretty sceptical, a lot of face powder at the best of times can be floury and powdery so my hoped weren't they high I have to say.

Packaged in clear Shu Uemura esq packaging the powder feels buttery soft and smooth, and has a slight floral smell, and a quite pigmented but smooth matte finish

I've predominantly being using this powder on my t-zone and I have to say it's really surprised me, it gives a nice matte finish without looking too chalky - Shade 1 is probably a little too pale for me at this time of year but you can see the matte finish in this picture

All in all for just a pound I don't think you can really go wrong, if it isn't for you then you haven't wasted a lot of money x

Blusher

It wouldn't be any sort of make up range with something to cheer up our cheeks, and once again the MUA basic line has done us proud with a bronzer in several shades and of course several blushers. I own 3 of the blushers, which are in rectangular pans, and in similar black and clear packaging to the eyeshadows. Like the face powder they also have a distinctive floral aroma.

First up Shade 1 - Apologies in advance for the appearance of this one but I took it on holiday with me last year and it didn't quite survive the baggage handlers. This is quite a scary hot pink in the pan, and I have to say it is super pigmented, just a tiny little swipe of the blush and you have more than enough for your whole face and more, but it blends down to a lovely flush of pink.

I've actually worn this one a lot it gives such a pretty glow to the skin especially when you have a tan, if it's too bright for you though you could always go for Shade 2

Whilst being as pigmented as Shade 2 this one is a bit softer in tone, a nice pretty pale pink which isn't quite as vibrant as Shade 1

If pure pinks aren't your bag how about trying Shade 3

This one is a lot rosier in tone and has maybe more coral and red undertones, this is a really good blush when you can't make up your mind what your going to wear

Again I don't think you can argue with the quality of these blushers, for just £1.00 they are super soft and pigmented, they are a bit powdery but I can live with that x

So in summing up what can I say about the Make Up Academy (MUA) Basic £1.00 line well in it simplest terms buy some! For just £1.00 a lot of these items perform a 100% better than what you expect. My highlights are the powder products and the nail polishes - the shadows and blushers are super soft and pigmented, and the nail polishes are first class for the price. Yes there maybe quirks and issues with certain products but isn't that always the case even with items 10 times the price. MUA as a brand seem to have the consumer at it's heart and have provided the customer with a line that is affordable and above all that works. Not willing to rest on their laurels the line is continuing to expand with new eyeshadows and nail polishes just hitting the shelves, and the release of the MUA Professional line, and upcoming capsule lines and their own website, this is a brand to watch. Don't forget to keep checking back to see more on the MUA Professional line also in my Budget Beauty Series, but in the meantime if you want to treat yourself to some make up without making a huge dent in your purse, you could do a lot worse than buy some products from the MUA basic line -cheap thrills with no spills x If you have any questions or comments please let me know, and I'd love to know if you have any MUA nail polish recommendations x

Another Nails Of The Day Featuring MNY

Hey my loves
Guess what another nails of the day for you this time featuring a new edition to my nail polish collection. The lovely Liloo wanted to see the MNY Maybelline polish in 659 compared to the 2True polish I bought on the same day (click here to see the haul), well you'll have to wait for my Budget Beauty Series post on 2True to see that one but I can tell you  they are completely different colours the 2True polish is much lighter. MNY 659 is a gorgeous mid tone - dark blue, much darker than it appeared when I originally photographed it. This is two coats, one was ok on the majority of nails but there were one or two that streaked on first application- apologies for the not so good photographs - I was having one of those days where nothing went right, I smudged the first attempt, then dripped polish on the cushion then the camera died so you get what you get ;)

Pretty, but nothing that original really, I have an overload of blues in my collection and to be honest this probably isn't adding that much to my collection, never mind it's still pretty, I do have my eye on another MNY colour - the lovely tealy / turquoise featured in Sarah - Found On Films post here so I will definitely be looking to purchase more from Maybelline's little sister. Are you as bigger fan as I am of blue nail polish?

How One Little Thing Can Left Your Spirits

I haven't had the best couple of days if I'm being honest, thankfully my cold / flu thing appears to be on the way out, and the antibiotics are over - hello real tea with MILK. However as I got better my mum took a turn for the worse. She has been having problems with her ears for a little while now so when she got my virus it was inevitable which part it was strike first - her ears! On Tuesday morning she was in an absolutely awful state, dizziness, nausea, slurred speech and eventually continuous vomiting, she wasn't in a good way at all. I called the doctor and she came straight out, diagnosing vertigo caused by an inner ear infection, so she gave her a prescription for anti nausea and dizziness tablets which thankfully some relatives managed to collect for me, and thankfully that seemed to do the trick. She is still pretty tired and her head still feels fuzzy  but she's managed to eat something today, and she's feeling a little brighter, thankfully she still has the medication in case it happens again  and she has an appointment to see the ENT team in a couple of weeks time so hopefully she'll get it sorted once and for all.

I have to say everything that happened yesterday left me utterly drained, I swear I have never seen her so poorly, I had an awful nights sleep and I've felt really weepy all day :( - I really don't know what I would do without her.

I've spent the day doing a bit of tidying, making a few meals for my mum, eventually posting the first of my MUA posts, and trying to chill out. I was feeling pretty down but then an email popped up in my inbox. No doubt you will see a few of these posts popping up but I felt it deserved a post. I was contacted by So Feminine, the largest online magazine for women about their first ever Beauty Blog Awards - they informed me that LouLouLand features in their top 100 list of Best Beauty Bloggers

I am so flattered it untrue to come 75th in the list is pretty amazing for me, especially when I don't consider LouLouLand 100% a beauty blog I am so grateful to everyone for reading and for their support (comes over all teary and sniffly) However as you can see the list only contains 90 blogs, it therefore up to us who we want to see filling the remaining 10 spaces, all you have to do is email fashion@sofeminine.co.uk with the url of the blogs you want to see added to the list. I can certainly see a few major omissions which I want to put right x Thanks to everyone at So Feminine and of course thanks to you guys xx Hopefully normal posting will resume soon x

Budget Beauty Series - Make Up Academy (MUA) - Eyes and Lips

Last year saw the launch of the Make Up Academy (MUA) range at Superdrug - I have to say as soon as I heard about the line I became super excited make up items for just a £1.00 that can't be bad can it, well it could I guess but I was willing to take the risk. What I didn't know at the time though was that I was in safe hands, this was a professional company where the customers needs, and wants were paramount, nowhere is that clearer than with their attitude towards social media, they've embraced twitter, blogs and facebook to understand exacty what their customer wants. Originally producing make up for bigger brands. the founders became disenchanted by the big business that the cosmetics industry had become, it was no longer about supplying a top quality product to the consumer it had become all about making money, and producing expensive advertising campaigns. Born out of this disillusionment was MUA, a range that would allow anybody of any age the opportunity to experience the fun of playing and experimenting with make up, not just any make up though but good quality, affordable make up that was just as good if better than items costing 10 times the price. My question ever since day one has always been how can you afford to sell it so cheaply? well the simple answer is no fancy advertising, think about it when have you ever seen a billboard or a magazine spread on MUA, you haven't instead the money is spent on the providing a great quality product at an even better price.

The first stage of the "MUA Revolution" took place last year with  the introduction of the basic £1.00 line - of course I dabbled my toes in the water and bought a few things (click here to see the initial haul) - the first impressions I have to say were positive, the things I bought didn't disappoint so over the last few months I've bought quite a few things from the line. I haven't bought every single line they've introduced, the mascara, lipgloss, bronzers, eyeliners, and shadow dusts are still on my to try list but as part of my Budget Beauty Series I thought I'd tell you more about the items I have tried.

Eyeshadows

First up eyeshadows, MUA have a huge array of shadow colours in two finishes pearl and matte, the packaging isn't fancy but it's sturdy enough and with clear lids you can see clearly which colour you want -here are the 6 shades I own

MUA number their products rather than give them names, this is an increasingly popular trend and not one I'm that keen on, still if you going to try something new why not start at the beginning and that's what I did, one of the first eyeshadows I purchased was No1 - Pearl

I have to say that this is a lovely highlight shade, a lovely buttery soft creamy ivory - gorgeous
I also own No2 - Pearl - this looks pretty similar to No1 again it's a good highlight shade but in reality it's has less of the warmth, it's a much cooler shimmery white, again super soft, and pigmented

My first foray into colour in the MUA single shadows was with No3 - Pearl, again in the shimmery pearl finish, this is a beautiful silvery charcoal grey shade.

This really is a beautiful eye shadow super soft and pigmented, and really blendable - here are a few pictures of this one on my eyes, I've used the flash so you can see the shimmer to it's best advantage

Gorgeous isn't a real party or evening colour and much more impressive than the price tag would suggest!
The next shadow I have unsurprisingly is drum roll No4 - Pearl - this is a pretty shimmery lilac shade

Again the texture and pigmentation is superb, this is such a pretty spring / summer colour, again I've done a few pics to show it on my eyes

The final eyeshadow I own in the Pearl formulation is No11

This is probably my favourite of all the MUA single shadows I own as you can see from the dint, a gorgeous shimmery brown / taupe shade that is super wearable and pigmented - again a few eye pics to show you how it looks on the eye

From my favourite to perhaps my least favourite, I don't really think that this should be seen as a slight against the shadow itself , it's probably more down to personal preference - I'm just not that keen of matte eyeshadows still I tried one for you No16 - Matte

A very pale matte pink, it doesn't seem as soft as the Pearl formulation, and don't get my wrong it's still pigmented but not as much as the Pearl shadows, it also looks a bit chalky in my opinion :(

With an price tag of just £1.00 for around 2g of shadow and a wide range of colours to choose from you really can't go wrong, don't think of these shadows just as something to experiment with, the quality especially of the pearl finish shadows is easily comparable with shadow retailing at a much higher price - which is exactly what MUA's a aim was -well done guys!

Lipsticks

Am I a lipstick junkie? well I wouldn't quite say that but like my mum I have a bit of a thing for the lipstick, I grew up with my mum constantly reapplying lipstick, one of her friends used to say it was like painting the forth bridge she was always at it, so it only natural I feel the same. I love designer lipsticks but I have to say more often than not I get my thrills from a cheap one. So it was inevitable that I purchased a couple from MUA when the basic line launched. The packaging isn't amazing but the black and silver gives it quite a sleek feel and I love the clear section on the base of the tube so you can see the colour of the lipstick without opening it, essential when you have lots of lipstick :). The lipsticks have a slightly synthetic vanilla taste, but it isn't overpowering or sickly.

I own 3 lipsticks from the range, 2 of which I bought when it was first released and 1 which I purchased more recently.

The first one I bought was No4 - I have to say this looks terrifying in the tube, a really vibrant almost neon pink but as you can see it's much more of a glaze formulation when it's swatched

You can see it on the lips here, it doesn't look particularly pigmented but it gives and gentle glossy pink look.

I also picked up No5 - again this looks quite a bright pink in the tube

but again when you swatch it isn't as pigmented as you would expect again its more a glaze type formula but this time with lots of glittery sparkles in it, which you can hopefully pick up better on the lip shot

I have to say I've actually nearly finished No5 since I took these pictures I am now using it with a lip brush to get it out of the bullet. I haven't been wearing it too often on it's own, instead of being using it over the top of other pinks such as MAC Snob to give them a more shimmery finish. I would definitely say though if you don't like glitter No5 isn't for you.

I have to say my initial impressions of the lipsticks wasn't that great the colours just weren't pigmented enough, so I left alone and didn't buy anymore, that was until recently I saw this colour on a few blog posts and with the summer on the way I bought it.

With a much creamier texture than the previous lipstick MUA Lipstick Shade 7 is a gorgeous corally pink

It's much brighter than it's appearing here but at the same time if you are scared of bright lipsticks this one is also pretty wearable. I've already put this in my provisional holiday make up bag as I think it will look even better with a tan.

I have to say I made a mistake with the lipsticks I judged the entire lipstick line on two purchases that didn't quite cut the mustard. In reality No4 and No5 probably just have a different finish, to No7, glazes for example as opposed to a cream of No7. There are plenty of different shades in the line so it's probably worth swatching them in store to make sure you get what you want - a hazard I guess with purchasing online. I have to say I love Shade 7 so much I will definitely be taking another look at the MUA £1.00 lipstick line.

This post is getting a tiny bit long and picture heavy now so I will do another post featuring the MUA face and nail products, which should be up in a day or so x Any questions please let me know and if you have any recommendations for MUA eye and lip products I'd love to hear them x