Wonderbalm

Girls Aloud member Nicola Roberts has a make-up range for those with fairer skin. It has been well received prompting her to release another collection.

In this new range she has created a product which has been dubbed as the 'new 8 hour cream'.  Titled Wonderbalm for a good reason as this can be used to relieve dry skin from the lips, heels,knees and hands. It is a fantastic winter item to keep in your bag and is a very generous size.I have it on my hands as I write this and it has instantly made them feel less rough and dry.

Size compared to M.A.C bronzing powder

A new release  this can be found in Harrods, ASOS and Beales in Bournemouth.

Disclaimer-I was sent this product for review purposes, I am not in amy way affiliated with this brand and my opinions are my own

Price

£20

What they say

Apply generously to areas suffering dry skin.Contains mango seed oil to smooth, soften and moisturise, natural plant waxes, beeswax and vitamin E rich in antioxidants. Alternatively, dab lightly over over your Dainty Doll cheek bones, eye lids and lips for a dewy finish.

Opinion

I was pleasantly surprised by the size of the container, you get 19g of product and in the lid is a rather handy mirror which I wasn't expecting. It's not cheap but it will definitely come in handy for this weather as I have noticed my skin is really feeling tight and as I have been using false tan lately it is perfect for hydrating areas that normally would go too dark.

Do any of you have the Dainty Doll range?

Tartan ans pj's

You might be thinking what the heck are these and why you showing me them?

Well I have a bit of a slipper and pj addiction and always feel so relaxed when I change into my comfy night wear. With the dark nights and snow all I want to do is get all snuggled up so felt I should buy some new snuggly attire ;)

These were all from NewLook, there's a few different designs and all the pieces are bought as separates so you can mix and match. I bought matching vest, bottoms and shorts. I thought the design was so delicate and girly and loved the light brown.

I then decided I couldn't buy these without the super soft dressing gown and slippers.

 

I just think these are adorable as gifts for the girls, I know lots of people would appreciate pj's as Xmas pressies and who wouldn't love these.

I couldn't resist this tartan lumber jack style shirt. It is gorgeously soft and I like how I can wear it long sleeved or clip it up so it's 3/4.

I am going to wear this shirt with super skinny jeans or my leather look leggings. 

I've got a few posts to catch up on as I have been busy recently and unable to get on here. There's a face products article and cute shoes etc to get on so I best sort my self out and get going.

Has anyone got cute pj's on their chrimbo wishlist?

Fashion fringe

What do you think about fringes?

I love them but my double cows lick situation leaves me with a rather pitiful piece of fringe that dangles right slap bang in the middle of my head. 

My solution? faux fringe! I am going to be trying some clip in fringes and letting you know where to buy them and what I am wearing.

My idea is to grow my hair long and compliment this with a blunt fringe think Nicki Minaj. I have been lusting after her locks (well its actually not her hair) for ages.

Asian girls are so lucky as they have straight glossy hair that was born for this "do".

Other girls rocking the fringe-

I love Angelina's look.

Top stylist Lee Stafford's top tips

  Lee Stafford says . . .

·               “To recreate this style you will need to get a really straight, blunt fringe. When styling, aim a hairdryer with a diffuser sock (to combat frizz), like my Featherlight Stormforce Hairdryer (£49.99) down the hair shaft but don’t move the hair too much as this will create body. If you want a flick, use a round brush and roll into the hair going backwards. Put the heat of the hair dryer on it, then let the round brush cool down a little before you take it out.”

LEE’S TOP TIP:

if you are desperate to trim your own fringe between trips to the salon it’s important to know that you must cut slowly and UPWARDS into your fringe. simply cutting straight across your fringe will result in a line that will be too blunt and difficult to correct later on

I think a fringe is such a fashionable look but I think too many layers can make it look a bit 80's keep it modern with sleek locks short or long.

Do you like fringes?

Make your own - Flower cuticle oil

Ok so I didn't do much to make this but I received this bottle from my mam in a little bag of goodies. Some bits were naff and other things were quite good which I will do a review on.

This little round bottle looks like a nail varnish but contained a lavender smelling cuticle nail oil. It's by a brand called Lizzie, quite cheap I think but the reason I love it most is the tiny flowers. I'm so gimmick led it's ridiculous !So reading the contents label it stated "final product was not tested on animals" meaning basically that they have tested the individual contents on animals but the final bottle product was not. 

Feeling really unsettled by this I poured the contents out and rinsed the bottle. I'm glad they did write that though so at least I would know not to buy that brand again. It's increasingly difficult to  know who has tested and who hasn't .The Body Shop fiercely protest against animal testing yet the company they are associated or are under does? I can't quite remember who it is but I think customers have the right to know in black and white on contents labels.

So I began thinking of the replacement oil and scent which wasn't difficult as I have made a body scrub using this same concoction (post coming soon)

All I did was fill the bottle up with sweet almond oil and added 3 drops of lemongrass essential oil. I prefer tangy uplifting scents but you go with whatever you like. Be careful when handling essential oils as they can burn the skin and make sure you mix the amounts of scented oil to base as directed.

For the flowers you could try adding the ones you use for nail art or even little tiny shells or glass beads.

I think this is a lovely inexpensive gift for someone who loves their nails or just keep it for yourself :)

What's your creative ideas?

Review-Addicted cosmetics Lip Novus

I have used this lip palette in the past few pictures so I could give a fair review of how I feel about this product.

First impressions on this were it looked and felt very cheap, the logo is lightly printed and the palette feels like rubber.

When I opened it I thought the lipstick pans were tiny, a little smaller than or around the same size as a 5p coin I think, I swatched a few colours and was a little confused. They don't have the consistency of lipstick but they have more colour than a liptint, does this make sense?

It's just I was expecting lipstick but they seem a little more sheer, saying all this you probably think I hate it but actually I found good use for a couple of colours and am loving the deep red. I had to apply quite a bit to get this look but this is how it turned out.

The red I used is the top left hand corner, I have also been using the bottom row pinks, the last one looks lovely as a highlight in the middle of the lip.

Although the rubber does put me off I feel I can grab it without it dropping so maybe this is what I need for future make-up?

Price

£14

Available in spring dawn (pinks)

Where to buy 

http://www.addictedcosmetics.co.uk/

Opinion

I think it seems pretty expensive for the amount of product, if it hadn't been for the red I would never use it however as it's a deeper red I am using it most days.Im torn at the moment so I can't say get it or definitely don't. 

 Disclaimer-I was sent these products to review. All opinions are my own and as always very honest.

What puts you off products?

Look of the day - Camel and coffee

This look of the day was inspired by Chloe. I think her designs are definately up there on my favourite list as they're so feminine but tailored and being petite I rely on tailoring at times to make me look taller. 

The camel trend is everywhere but choose carefully as it can wash some skin tones out. I teamed mine with coffee coloured chinos and nude shoes.

I normally don't match my make-up but I did this first then chose the clothes afterwards forgetting what my make-up was, ooops.

Anyway I used the Coastal  Scents 78 palette with Bourjois brun eyeshadow. I opted for gold and chocolate browns most of which were used from the 120 palette.

Shirt from Miss Selfridges, Chinos internet, Shoes Topshop

What trend are you wearing this season? share your fashion faves

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Creative gift ideas

These 2 fabulous pieces of art are the ingenious Clippy Bags.Calypso Rose designed these at a young age selling her first batches on stalls in London. Demand for them increased greatly and soon enough celebrities were getting their hands on them.

I was super excited when I received these as I wanted to personalise it right away. I have the jumbo wash bag and the make-up bag both in gold. I am using the wash bag to store all my skin care in there, it's great because it's huge and gets everything in with ease.

Each bag has a number of wallets where you can slip in a picture or design. You can put whatever you like inside and the beauty is you can change it frequently to keep it fresh and new.

Don't worry about spills the pockets are plastic so totally water proof !

Go gather you pictures, cute wrapping paper, cards, buttons absolutely anything to create a bag of memories!

 And after a while you will have something like this...

(I blanked my sons face out on here)

I love the themed stickers you can buy to jazz up a picture.

Here's what they look like

Price £4

The jumbo wash bag is £16 and the make-up bag is £10.

I think these are perfect gifts as they can be used by people of all ages and frequent travellers will appreciate that they can see their loved ones every time they go to their bag.

You can also buy handbags and umbrellas with the same design, just add your clippings and create a story.

Disclaimer-I was sent these bags to review, I am not affiliated with Clippy and may be adding one to my giveaway soon!

Find your Clippy bag here

Have you started Xmas shopping yet ?

Getting a glamour look

Todays tutorial was for Katie Price, love her or loather her she is a pretty girl regardless. Her make-up is mostly dramatic and almost barbie like. She has a couple of styles that are instantly recognisable. The first and my favourite is the more natural look, i'm using that word very lightly as even though she uses neutral colours she still piles on the lashes. The other is her very dark dramatic look, as silly as it sounds I think this doesn't suit her new features anymore. It involves lashings of  black kohl pencil and dark eyeshadow.

I chose to re-create her softer look using champagne and copper eyeshadows and 3 pairs of lashes!

I love thicker eyebrows and think she carries them off very well, for me to have them same effect I would have to tint them everyday as well as shading them in. I am actually growing them in a little at the moment and its a big pain!

I wanted to try a black wig to really get into character lol

What I used

Eyes

ELF elegant eyeshadow

M.A.C tempting, coppering and mythology

Jemma Kidd eyeliner

3 pairs of different sized lashes (only one I can remember is the Katie Price ones)

Face

Face atelier in Ivory and 0+

Chanel bronze universal

M.A.C accentuate sculpt and shape

Lips 

M.A.C spice lipliner

M.A.C viva v lipstick

M.A.C prr lipgloss

Watch the video

 What's your thoughts?

Happy hands - My favourite handcreams.

I always use hand cream because your neck and hands are the true giveaway of age. The skin on the hands has a really tough time. It is subjected to water, sun , wind and UV rays and most the time we don't even think about it. We really take them for granted but just think about how important they are!

In reality I don't know many who think about applying SPF on their hands but why shouldn't we when use foundations and primers contain SPF?

May be that's one for my New Years resolution as I am creeping towards the 30 mark I am becoming increasingly determined to maintain nice skin for as long as possible. 

I have tried lots of hand creams, some I don't have anymore so I couldn't take pictures but I will mention what I used and my thoughts on each.

The above are the best but sadly the most expensive (typical)

What I look for in a hand cream

The main aspect of a good hand cream is in my opinion a one that doesn't sink in straight away. I loathe ones that contain a high water content as it feels so thin and disappears in seconds leaving my hands feeling dewy but not nourished. The ones that contain oil are my favourites but these are best used when you have a few minutes to let it penetrate the skin. 

L'Occitane Dry skin hand cream - My favourite, it smells nice and contains 20% shea butter for extra moisture. £17

Crabtree & Evelyn Hand Source- Close second, this feels really thick but not greasy. Quite a while after it is applied it still feels soft and moisturised, smells a little like talc though. £12

Jurlique lavender hand cream - Smells ok but feels less moisturising than the two above. Sinks in quite quickly but feels soft still. £17

Norwegian formula- very moisturising perfect for evening and those with severely dry hands but takes forever to sink in and leaves hands greasy. For intense treatment apply this before bed and pop on some cotton gloves. £2-4

Dove-least favourite, feels very watery and not as moisturising as any of the others. £1.99

It just goes to show you really do get what you pay for . £17 is quite expensive but it is something you use maybe 6 times a day or more. We think nothing of spending £20-30 on foundation to cover our sins but what about the poor hands. You'll thank me when you have less age spots and wrinkles when your older! 

Own up who doesn't look after their hands :) ?

Lanvin and H&M Haute Couture show in NYC

So we all know about this collaboration as there's been beautiful press release images all over the net for us to gawp at.

Last night Lanvin and H&M presented a Haute Couture runway show in New York.

There were some fabulous guests attending this show to celebrate the collaboration of Lanvin for H&M. The Haute Couture creations were made from customised garments from the actual collection. 

 I want this t-shirt!

 All images belong to H&M, photographer Dan Lecca

The event was a red carpet affair held at the Pierre Hotel but given a NYC twist with graffiti, trees and greenery.

The collection is being sold in over 200 stores Worldwide and will be available November 20th in the US and November 23rd to the rest of the world. (yey)

Contact your store to see where they will be launching the collection.

There's some very reasonably priced clothes, I am after some of their T-shirts they're beautiful and under £30. Cha ching!

Whats on your list

World of the weird and wonderful

How unusual are these Nail Quills!

These bespoke limited edition Quills are designed and hand- crafted by Mike Pocock a legend in the nail business. Mike has worked for numerous prestigious fashion magazines and was inspired by the new Illamasqua polish Scorn.

Not the most practical in nails but uber stylish and most definitely eye catching but take care in not actually catching your eye. Ouch!

I decided to have a go at making one, obviously I want to state as I'm not a nail expert my efforts are simple but I thought it was quite cool to look at. The other half thinks I'm crazy but that's nothing new.

I used Illamasqua nail polishes in Jo Mina (purple) and Viridian (green)

As these are very limited I think they will become collectors items and if I were to have them I'd put them on display forever.

Price £35

I haven't had the chance to see these for my self so if you get them let me know

Would you wear these ?