Beauty Review: Matchy matchy

Source

I saw this post over on The Beauty Department blog a couple of weeks ago. And it hit me, after always thinking I hated the matchy matchy look, I actually didn't hate it at all. I preferred it, in fact. We all like to think we're a bit rebellious really but turns out, I'm not. The matchy matchy look - in my opinion - looks cleaner and chicer than the clashing colours. Of course, our nails and lips rarely get that close, in real life. But as I painted my nails in Boots' 17's Risky Red, I reached for my new Boots No 7 lipgloss in Sultry Red and slicked on a coat:


Do you match it or clash it?
Read more »

Mani of the Week: Boots 17 Risky Red

When Boots sent me some of their new 17 Supreme Shine nail polishes to try out, the one that I couldn't wait to use was this red. I have something of an addiction to red nail polish. My go to polish when I want my nails to look grown up and "done" is either Chanel's Rose Flamme which is a very pale pink or a red. When I find myself away without any polish with me, chances are, I'll buy a bottle of red. As a result, I have ended up with nearly too many bottles that I have finger nails to paint!

There is something glamorous and timeless about a good red manicure. My nail icon for my red obsession is the ever stylish Olivia Palermo who never seems to be without a coat of red on her nails:

Read more »

Mani of the Week: Boots No 7 Sing The Blues

This is one of No 7's new Stay Perfect polish, in Sing The Blues. It is my new favourite colour. I always prefer dark colours, like navies or deep purple but this colour is like a summer navy - not too dark and with just enough of a sheen.

What colour have you been wearing on your nails this week?

(A rave) Beauty Review: inside my bathroom cabinet

This week, I'll confess, I had thought I'd written and scheduled a beauty review post and so this morning I got up, dyed my hair, did my chores and headed out into the sunshine to the library. And then I came home and logged on and realised... there was no lovely new post this morning. So apologies to anyone who came here earlier looking for some beauty review action. Here it is. Better late than never and better still, it is about more than just one great beauty secret this week:

I am a hoarder of all things beauty (as well as being an advertisers dream and buying into every new beauty trend!). So today, I thought I'd share with you my absolute favourites from all of the many products I have collected over the years and the ones that have turned out to be keepers:

Let's start at the top:

• Hair care:

Aussie Take The Heat shampoo and 3-Minute Miracle conditioner: this is the only shampoo and conditioner combination that I have found that doesn't end up leaving my hair heavy and lank after continued use. It also tames my frizzy and unruly hair, leaving it almost straight when blow-dried.

Trevor Sorbie's Dry Shampoo is the lazy girl's best friend. I've tried others but this is my favourite for price, size and results. And it smells pretty neutral too.

Trevor Sorbie's Beach Hair Spray is a salt spray that does to your hair what the sea does when you're on holiday. Want your hair to retain those loose curls and waves from the beach when you're back home? Use this!

• Body care:

To keep my skin soft, I like to use Garnier's Intensive 7-Day Lotion with Shea Butter which is so moisturising. And smells pretty indulgent too.

To keep my legs soft and hair-free for longer, I've started using Veet's Hair Minimising Moisturer, which does seem to work as I usually have to shave every day but this seems to allow me to wait another day or two.

I don't tend to fake tan my whole body but I do like to tan my legs a little during the summer months as they never seem to take any colour at all.

When I have time I use Garnier's Summer Body Lotion for a Deep Sun-kissed Look. It smells lovely and is deeply moisturising whilst also building a good even colour over a couple of applications.

When I've forgotten to tan my legs (or have been lazy!) and still want to wear a skirt, I use St Tropez's Wash Off Instant Body Glow Lotion. I either use it alone or with a little of my moisturiser to tone the colour down a bit. Gives the most natural colour of all of the fake tans I have used. Ever.

The Body Shop's Shea Body Scrub is my number one for the shower as it has the large gritty bits in that I like to feel like I've been exfoliated properly.

• Face care:

I don't like putting a thick cream on my face on the morning, so I swear by Boots' No 7 Essential Mositure Day Fluid which is light and yet moisturising. Only annoying thing - no SPF. (But I do use a Tinted Moisturiser instead of foundation each day which does contain an SPF.)


At night I do like a thick cream to slather on and do its best as I sleep and so I use Boots' No 7 Essential Mositure Night Cream.

• Hair removal:

I've mentioned the Nair Silky Sensations Hair Removal Cream before and I love this for keeping me hair free without any pain.

• In my handbag:

I always carry a red nail polish in my handbag as it seems to suit any mood and outfit when I'm caught without polish on. At the moment, my red of choice is this Boots' 17 Supreme Shine in Risky Red. It's long lasting and has a great shine - even after one coat.

Boots' No 7 Summer Collection Lipgloss in Sultry has found a home in my handbag as I love the colour. I'm not usually one for bright lip colour but this I do like. The colour is rich too - not too translucent like some lipglosses.

My final beauty must have is Boots' No 7 Nail Polish in Sing the Blues - the colour is strong and sophisticated.

What are your beauty essentials?

Mani of the Week: Boots 17 Down Town

When I got sent the Boots 17 Miami Pop Summer Collection to try out, I decided that I wasn't perhaps the best person for the job - so I sent it to my super stylish sis to play with as she's off on her holidays to Ibiza - right now, in fact!!

For her holidays she chose to paint her nails with the Down Town shade which is a bright colour pop in a hot orange shade which is on trend this summer:

Super stylish sis said: "fab colour and went on very easily", adding only slightly against it that, "it doesn't last hugely well". But then, when it's summer and you have a ton of different shades to play with, what does it matter?!

What colour are you wearing this week? Have you tried the orange nail trend yet?

BEAUTY REVIEW: Boots Beautiful Bronze Soltan Self Tan Lotion

When I was asked to trial Soltan's Beautiful Bronze Self Tan Body Lotion I couldn't wait. And then I did. I waited then six weeks. Because I suddenly remembered that as much as I like to have a tan, I don't actually like fake tanning - I don't like the stress of worrying over whether it will look alright or whether I'll be left with streaks or white patches, as have been the results of many a fake tan experiment when I was a student. So the bottle sat on my dressing table. Taunting me. Then last night, I decided to take the plunge and try it. After all, the forecast said rain for the next few days, so if it went wrong, I could hide under my skinny jeans. My arms tend to a take a little colour in the sun anyway, so it is really only my legs that remain an offensive whiter than white colour this time of year. So I tried the tan on them:

The verdict?

It worked.

You wanted more than that? Oh, ok then. It came out of the bottle in a gold shimmery gel-like lotion which smelled a little of chocolate as I applied it with the mitt (which was a great idea as it left me with no tell-tale brown palms!). By the morning the smell had reverted to the generic fake tan smell that we all love to hate but I'm not too bothered about the smell if I can wash it off in the shower and then apply a sweet smelling body lotion. The colour was good after one application - good enough for me, I mean. I didn't want my legs to go any darker than my arms but if you tan better than me - not hard - you'll probably want another application. The tan was even - except for where I had forgotten to apply it on the back of one of my ankles! And it lasted well too and faded gradually and evenly.

For less than a tenner, I'd say it's good value and would recommend.

Which fake tan do you use? Have you tried Boots' Soltan range?

Pedi of the Week: Boots No 7 Me! Me! Me!

How do you spend your Sunday evening? I spent my Sunday evening doing chores and painting my toe nails:

When Boots sent me a couple of the new No 7 Stay Perfect nail polishes to try out, this hot pink polish - Me! Me! Me! - was amongst them. I'm not such a fan of hot pink on my finger nails but on my toes? Yes please!

The new Pigment Rich Colour means that the shade is rich and powerful while the new wider brush with a curved end makes painting your nails that bit easier.

What colour do you paint your toe nails for summer?

Want to know what your nail colour says about you? This article tells you.

BEAUTY REVIEW: Boots No 7 Summer Collection

Last week, I told you about Boots' 17 Summer Collection, this week, I have the fabulously glamorous Boots' No 7 Summer Collection to tell you about:

If hot pink polish and lipgloss isn't your thing, don't fear. The No 7 limited collection is glossy and glittery and grown-up. The collection consists of a matt three-toned bronzer, with a convenient mirror in the top:

A metallic cocktail of four richly pigmented bronzed eyeshadows:

Two lipglosses, in two alluring shades, Sultry Red which epitomises the 70’s glamourpuss look and Sultry Nude which oozes sophistication:

And two nail polishes, Golden Palms and Sultry Sands:

The collection includes everything necessary for your summer make-up bag, I know I'll be needing nothing else. Which is a shame, because Boots No 7 are currently offering this gorgeous free gift when you spend £22 or more on No 7 products.

What make-up do you wear in the summer? Do you change your make-up routine in the hot weather?

Mani of the Week: Boots No7 Golden Palms

When Boots sent me the No 7 Summer Collection I wasn't too sure about the polishes. Both are glittery and I'm never too impressed with metalic glitter polishes - they are never very opaque end up looking a little like a child got left alone with a tube of glitter glue and my nails! But I thought I'd give them a go - for the sake of the blog, you understand! And I am so pleased I did.

This polish, named Golden Palms, is opaque after two coats, glamorous and lasts a long loooong time! Honestly, I put a coat on one evening, which actually looked nice enough on its own, but the next evening decided to add a second coat which looked even better. Then I set about cleaning the bathroom, washing up and a whole host of other chores that had been waiting for me to get off the sofa! And the polish was still there and intact after all of this! Now that is some staying power, right there!

And the colour? Well, it is in daylight a pink base with broze coloured glitter, and indoors, it is more bronze than pink.

If you're looking for a polish to accompany sunny summer evening cocktails, this is it!

And right now, if you spend £22 on No 7 products, you get this free gift. What are you waiting for?

What colour are you loving for sultry summer evenings?

BEAUTY REVIEW: Boots 17 Miami Pop Summer Collection

Those lovely people at Boots obviously realised that my bank balance needed a break from all of the spending I keep doing and offered to send me some samples to try out - to which I said, yes please! Naturally.

So, I was pleased to receive the Boots 17 Miami Pop Summer Collection in the post last week. The packaging cute and candy coloured - just what you want to fill your make-up bag with in the summer, no?

The collection includes a shimmer bronzer - which will look perfect swept on with a large powder brush for summer evenings - and a hot pink lipgloss - which will brighten up any make-up look. In addition, there are two limited edition nail polish colours - Palm Beach, a hot pink colour, and Down Town, a bright orange  - I'd suggest painting one colour on your toe nails and another on your finger nails!

Boots 17 are also currently offering a 17 Nail Bar in a Bag free with any two purchases from the 17 collection:

Have you tried any of these products? What summer make-up do you use? Does the make-up you use change between summer and winter?

PS. I stumbled upon this post which suggests How to Wear Bronzer (and How to Avoid Mistakes).

Mani of the Week: Boots 17 Crackle Top Polish

You might remember that a few weeks ago the lovely people at Boots' 17 sent me their new Supreme Shine collection? The package included their brand new Crackle Top Polish. Many brands now offer crackle top polish but I had yet to try any, so I couldn't wait to try this one out. It works best if you use a thin coat as it dries quickly and cracks as it dries. I tried it first with Boots No 7 Lovely Lilac polish which looked great but the pale undercoat meant that the effect wasn't too noticeable:

So I gave it a go with the Boots No 7 Tangy polish which I think worked better:

Have you tried any of the crackle polishes? What do you think of them?

Mani of the Week: Boots No 7 in Tangy

This week's mani is Boots No 7's Tangy. A gorgeously richly pigmented orange coral colour which is just perfect for the summer and against tanned and pale skins alike. The polish is opaque after one coat and two coats extend the life of the mani for a week. This polish has firmly earned its place in my summer make-up bag.

What colour is your mani this week?

PS:

Have you entered my giveaway to win a fabulous pair of Oasis New Vintage earrings? If not, make sure you do so right away!! You can’t win, if you don’t enter!

AND, if you have already voted for me in the Filofax Facebook Blogger Style Off, thank you. If you haven’t voted for me yet, please do go and vote for me and will be forever grateful.

Mani of the Week: No 7 Lovely Lilac

Boots No 7 have created a new "pigment rich colour" polish with a "new brush and formulation". So? You ask. Well, the colour is certainly rich and the new brush to flat and wide which makes application easy and smooth.

This colour is perfect for the summer - subtle and pretty:

What colour polish are you wearing this week?

PS:

Have you entered my giveaway to win a fabulous pair of Oasis New Vintage earrings? If not, make sure you do so right away!! You can’t win, if you don’t enter!

AND, if you have already voted for me in the Filofax Facebook Blogger Style Off, thank you. If you haven’t voted for me yet, please do go and vote for me and will be forever grateful.

BARGAIN HUNTER: Boots haul

Nothing makes me happier than knowing that I have scored a bargain and my recent trip to Boots afforded me a few reasons to smile:

Currently, when you spend £5 or more in store, you will receive a £5 voucher for Boots No 7. If you don't know what to spend your £5 on, look no further! I was pleased to find the new and improved Stay Perfect formulation in store, with pigment rich colour. And some new bright summer shades, like these three that I picked up:

From left to right: Minty Fresh, Lucky Lilac and Tangy

At £7 it means that you get good quality polish for just £2, with your voucher. Aren't the colours perfect for the summer?

But these weren't the only bargains at Boots this weekend, I also managed to grab a couple of bargainous Ruby & Millie make up tools. According to many an internet forum, Ruby & Millie products are currently 75% off at Boots until the end of June, however when I visited the Boots store on Queen Street in Cardiff, it seems they did not know about this offer!! The Boots store at the Cardiff Bay retail park did have their products reduced (although not until you get them to the till) - so it is worth checking. I got these slant tweezers for £3.32 (normally £13.28)!!!!

And these eyelash curlers (which are the best I have ever used!) for just £2.17 (normally £8.68):

What bargains have you snagged this weekend?

Beauty Review: Boots 17 Waterproof Mascara

So when I got up last Sunday morning I wasn’t exactly planning on giving the Boots' 17 Waterproof mascara such a vigorous trial. I had in mind a day by the pool to see if it gave me panda eyes after a brief dip. But instead I found myself on a high-speed boat in the sea off Ibiza being thrown around and then thrown – quite literally – into the sea. And you know what? Not a panda eye in sight!


Do you wear waterproof mascara for water activities? Or go mascara-free? Or just hope for the best?!

Mani of the Week: Boots 17 Twilight Teaser

It is not only Nair that I have to thank for making sure I am ready for my holidays at the end of this week, but also the lovely people at Boots who sent me a few bottles from the new Boots 17 Supreme Shine collection:

Now, I still haven't decided which colour I will use for my weekend away - although I am thinking something dark and glamorous, like Spiced Plum for my toes and something bright, like Miami for my finger nails with the Crackle Top Coat that was also sent to me. Of course, I will keep all of this for another week.

This week, I have mostly been rocking the subtle tones of Twilight Teaser:

The colour, after one coat, is pretty opaque but I like that. However it can be built up with another one or two coats. It certainly lasts well - this has been on all weekend and endured some pretty hardcore cleaning and is still in tact.

What colour do you wear on your nails on your holidays?

Beauty Review: No7 Pampering Dry Oil Body Spray

I don't often write beauty reviews on this blog (except for the regular Mani of the Week series) but when I do it is because I have found a product that I just have to tell you about and this is one such product.

I love Baby Oil and the way it moisturises my skin in a way that no other moisturiser I have found does. But I don't like the way it leaves my skin greasy for hours after and gets all over my clothes if I have to get dressed quickly after applying - as is often the case in the morning. I often leave myself with barely enough time to throw some lotion on, dress and run out of the door, let alone wait for any lotion or oil to sink in.

Boots No7 Pampering Dry Oil Body Spray is the perfect solution. It comes as a spray so you don't end up with the oil all over the bottle. It is also easy to apply just the right amount of oil. It dries ultra fast! The smell is subtle and leaves no lasting smell. I find this important as I wear perfume and don't like all of my lotions and potions scents conflicting with each other!

So far this week, I have already noticed that the dry patch of skin on my upper arm is smoother and my legs - which are always dry -  are a little less dry already.

What moisturiser do you use? Or recommend?

Mani of the Week: Boots No7 Betty Blues

This week's nail colour comes courtesy of Boots No7 Stay Perfect Nail Polish in Betty Blues.

The colour is a rich navy blue with a high shine. Two coats make it opaque and will make it last longer too.

If you've not tried Boots No7 polishes before, make sure you do, as they are affordable and yet long lasting and offer a fantastically wide range of shades.

What colour polish are you wearing this week?

Mani of the Week: Boots No7 Siren

I have been coveting the Chanel nail polish in Dragon that Pink Bow wears and so when in Paris in October I thought it would make the perfect souvenir but alas, they were all sold out:

On my return I decided to treat myself to a nail colour from Boots No7 with my £5 voucher and so set upon this colour - Siren - which is very nearly the same shade of red.

What do you think? Can I pass it off as Chanel?