July Favourites...

I've been off of uni since May now, so it's crazy to think that tomorrow sees the start of August and I have just a month left of my summer break. I have a real mix of favourites this month including hair, make up, and a beauty box, so without any further rambling, here is my July Favourites! 

Pro Vitamin Full Volume conditioner (£2.29/400ml) - There always seems to be a bottle of this stuff in our bathroom, and I've been really enjoying it! Whenever I use this I find that my hair feels really soft, and I've actually noticed more volume too!

Simply Sunkissed (£1.00/200ml)* - I blogged about this product earlier in the month and still cant get over the fact it retails for just a pound! I simply spray this into my wet hair and allow it to dry naturally (although use of a hairdryer is recommend). I just find that it lightens my hair gradually and in a really natural looking way.

 Maybelline Superstay Better Skin Foundation (£8.99/30ml) - I got this back in May although didnt use it for a while as I was convinced it was breaking me out. I gave this another chance around a month later and loved it! I can also announce this wasn't breaking me out which is always a plus!  This just applies to the skin really well and gives a nice medium coverage without being cakey.

Maybelline Baby Skin Instant Pore Eraser (£7.99/22ml) - For some reason I really didnt like this product at first, and was even going to include it in a disappointing products post, although as I mentioned in that post i went back and tested everything again just to be sure I really didnt like them and ended up loving this. I think for me personally I didnt like the feel of applying this, although once set this works great and leaves my face so smooth. Best of all you only need the smallest amount meaning this will last me ages!

Orly Glossier (£10.90/18ml) - I got this in TK Maxx for under £3 and have been really impressed! This just makes my nail polish last longer and leaves my nails looking so shinny! I've even been asked quite a few times If I have false ones on while wearing this!

Maybelline ColorShow Beached Neon in Coral Heat (£3.99/7ml) - Maybelline have clearly been doing something right lately as this is my third favourite from them this month! This is just a lovely shade which you can see on here. It also lasts for a reasonable amount of time and has a nice sized brush.

Memebox - If you follow me on any of my social media platforms you may know I have gone a little Memebox crazy, I just cant get over the fact that I hadn't even heard about them until last month! Memebox are a Korean beauty box service, although unlike many in the UK you can simply order the boxes you want to receive rather than being tied to a monthly one. It's also am amazing way to try out Korean beauty which isn't easy to come by in the UK! I posted a review earlier this month and am actually hoping to post another tomorrow since I just got another delivered (Its a goodie!).

So there you have it, the beauty favourites I've been loving this month! What are yours?

Get up and glow

Personally, I love having skin that glows, so figured today I'd share some of the ways I use to fake that glowly look with make up. While I wouldn't necessarily recommend you try all of these steps in one go as you may look a little extreme, You can pick and choose the ideas you think will be best for you for you. I also love that so many of these products can be used in more than one way!

Prime Time

Illuminating primers and moisturisers are a wonderful way to get glowing skin with minimal effort, they also have added properties such as maximising make up wear time and hydrating the skin! Personally I love using a illumining primer if I'm going for a more minimal look as you don't need to wear a foundation on top and can simply add concealer to problem areas. Failing that they're even great for making normal foundations that extra bit  glowy! I have three glow getters that use to prime my face although there are so many like these on the market.

I'll start with the priciest product first, Origins Vitazing (£29.00/50ml), personally I was lucky enough to pick this up really cheap in a blog sale pretty much brand new. Vitazing just makes my face glow like no other product I own! It's one of those mostistisers which starts of white then adapts to your skintone. Personally this comes out a little too dark on my skin, although when teamed with a paler foundation this leaves my skin looking great and I really enjoy having it in my collection. Next up is a magazine freebie I fell in love with in the form of Benefit's 'that girl' Primer (£22.50/11ml), this just leaves my face looking brightened and feeling smooth, this also doubles up as a highlighter which is always great and I will sorely miss it when I finish this sample! Lastly I have a more budget primer which to be honest I'm yet to put to the test, although figured it was worth a mention as many hail the Technic Prime it (£4.86/33ml) as a dupe for 'that girl', I'm going to be putting this to the test in the coming months so would love to know if you'd like to see this in a review/dupe post!

It's all about the base.

If priming's not your thing another super easy way to get that face glowing is by using foundations which claim to have anti fatigue properties or promise users 'instant radiance' like this MUA Undress your skin foundation (£5.00/35ml) , Such foundations require no extra effort in the morning so are pretty ideal for glow lovers who are always running late like me! Some others in my collection include this 123 perfect colour correcting cream from Bourjois (£9.99/30ml), and this wake me up foundation from Rimmel (£8.99/30ml).

A wonderful tip that I have been learnt over the years is that you can instantly make any foundation an illumining one with a touch of liquid highlight! simply mix a dot of highlighter and a pump of foundation on the back of your hand and you are good to go!

That all over Glow! 

Quite possibly my favourite way to achieve that all over glow to my fact is to swap your mattifying powder for an illuminating one! There aren't too many on the high street although I have two and really like them both! The first is this Bourjois Java Rice Loose Powder (£9.99/3.5g) which I have loved since discovering it last summer, although if you find loose powders too messy Soap & Glorys Glow All Out (£11.00/7.5g) may be for you! (It also has an added mirror too)

If your Scared to try these all over these powders they can also be used as a really subtle highlighter too, which leads me to my next tip..

Highlight, highlight, highlight!

One of my favourite make up products are highlighters! Although if you're on a budget its well worth noting that some of the products in previous sections will work as a highlight too,such as the two primers and all over face powders! Highlighters can be applied in many areas for added glow such as on the tops of your cheekbones, down the nose, and on the brow bone. Although personally I mainly use these on my cheekbones and occasionally down my nose.

There are three main types of formula, Powder, liquid and cream. Although personally I really like all three. Here I have two of each! I'll start with powders, Topshop Sunbeam (£10.00/6.5g) is unlike anything else I own, In pan form it looks really yellow although on the cheekbones it's a really wearable and just gives your skin that added warmth. My next powder is more of a cooler tone, although it is probably my favourite ever highligher MUA undress your skin highligher (£3.00/7.5g) looks amazing on the cheek bones, It's also one of the cheapest ones in my collection so i was shocked by just how much I love it! Sadly the lid has snapped off of this one meaning its been well and truly battered and now lives barely used at the back of a draw, although I have no doubt that I would use this everyday if I still could. 

My First liquid highlight was Benefits Sunbeam (£19.50/30ml) which I loved I used this everyday for months so I have no idea how I still have some left in the sample! This is just a lovely bronzey shade and I really love wearing it. The second one I own is this really buget friendly one from Chit Chat (£1.00/12ml), This is more of a pinky shade but I really love the look of it ont! I've managed to use around a third of it already as its so wearable! Finally we have cream highlighters, Benefit Watts up (£24.50/9.4g) and Topshop Glowstick in Play up (£10.00). Personally I find with creams you really have to blend, and with ones such as these its best to apply with your fingers rather than directly on! These are actually quite similar to each other only the benefit one looks more bronzed and the Topshop one is more of a champagne shade.

So there you have it, my favourite ways to add a bit of glow into my skin! As you can see I've mentioned a lot of products here so there's no swatches as of yet, although if you want to see more of a product comment below and I'll try and direct you to a review if I have one or try and get one up asap if I can! What do you use to achieve glowing skin?

July Non Beauty Favourites

Its non beauty favourites time again so be prepared for a long one as I love to ramble on during these posts! I've loved a lot this month, so I'm going to kick of this months non beauty favouties by delving into my current TV loves as there have been quite a few throughout the month of July!

The first TV Show I've been loving is The 100!  I watched the first season of this at the very beginning of the month and completely loved it. Set 97 years after a nuclear war which left the world inhabitable, a 100 teens are sent down from the spaceship known as the Ark that they've been living on to see if the world is survivable. Things don't exactly go as planned and they're automatically thrown into the deep end, soon to discover they're not alone on earth. For me this was like a futuristic version of Lost, and I completely loved it! The season finale was amazing, so I'm counting down the days until season two!

My second TV love has been Scandal, I spotted this on my sky boxsets earlier this month and have since been obsessed! I'm only on the second season, but so far I think this is brilliant! The series focuses around Olivia Pope, and her team who run a crisis management firm. Olivia Pope and associates strive themselves on taking on the cases no one else will. For me the thing that leaves me obsessed is the secrets the main characters are keeping and the constant twists!

Lastly I've been obessed with Catfish! I've always heard so much about this show, although have never really known what it was about. After a quick google I ended up watching quite a few episodes, and its now one of my go to shows when I have a little free time. Catfish follows the stories of people in online relationships, and more than often things aren't what they seem.

Dinner for Schmucks (£3.25) - A friend made me borrow this earlier in the month and it just really made me laugh! It's just a really lovely story about two unlikely friends, highly worth a watch!

Looking for Alaska by John Green (£5.59) -This story is based around main characters Miles move to boarding school, Its clear from the start that hes a little bit of an outsider in his previous life, which makes the story him finding friendship so beautiful. This book is separated into two sections, Before and after which had me hooked from the beginning. The book begins 'one hundred and thirty six days before', and continues in this fashion. I automatically wanted to know what the book was leading up to although resisted the urge to look and continued to read on until I reached the after section 165 pages in. To be honest like the charterers in the book I refused to believe for a while that the event which the book was leading up to actually happened, I was utterly convinced that it was some kind of mistake or even a dream. After the event in question the life of Miles and his friends is turned completely upside down, and they're desperate for answers. While in some ways they never find these, its clear towards the end of the book we see that they are slowly coming to terms with this. I really liked reading this one, and have picked up yet another John Green book to read!

If I stay by Gayle Forman (£5.59)  - You're pretty much thrown in at the deep end with this book as very early on the main character, Mia and her family, are involved in a devastating accident. As a result of this accident, Mia appears separated from her body, and left watching her loved ones as they gather outside her hospital room while she fights for her life. She has a heartbreaking choice to come to terms with as she reminisces through happy memories of her life, Does she stay and face the consciences of the accident, or will she let go. I really liked this story and am so pleased that there is another ('Where she went') as I'm really interested to know what happened to the characters after the first book.

Dress Perfume Mist De Grapefruit ($18.00/150ml)  -I got this in my Scentbox #3 and I was a little surprised buy how much I love using this. Its just a really nice luxury feeling room scent and I really love spraying it on the fabrics around my room.

Bird Cage Style Lantern - I found this in poundland a couple of months now, but forgot to share it with you guys! I just think this is a really cute addition and I cant get over the fact that it was just a pound!

So there you have it, the non beauty favourites I've been loving this month! Ps. I got a blog Instagram yesterday and would love if you could stop by, you may even see a sneaky picture of upcoming reviews! You can see my page here.

Babylips Electro in Pink Shock

I am a huge lover of the original Baby lips range so when I spotted these electro versions hanging up in Superdrug I nearly let out a little scream. My Superdrug only seemed to have two shades; a bright pink and a bright orange. I opted for the pink one, otherwise known as 'Pink Shock' as I don't suit orange shades. The packaging of these is pretty much the the same as the original line up, only all lip balms in the electro range are in this black casing allowing the neon baby lips logo to really stand out. 

The balm itself is rather scary looking although once swatched it's clear that this is a much more wearable shade than the neon packaging lets on. Considering this is marketed as a lip balm I was quite impressed with the pigmentation of 'Pink Shock', and have found this to be both moisturising on the lips and really easy to wear. 'Pink Shock' transfers to the lip as a pretty pink shade, although I've noticed you can layer this on to get a more intense brighter look. As with all Babylips the wear time isn't amazing (an hour or two at most) although it smells so good you'll want to reapply throughout  the day!

There's no lip swatch today as my cameras is dead and I really wanted to share this launch with you as soon as I could! Although if you're desperate to see it on the lips there are loads of pictures of this on google simply type in 'pink shock babylips' into the image search bar and you'll discover many! You can pick these up for just £2.99 at selected Maybelline stockists, Will you be adding an Electro Babylips to your collection?

Disappointing Products..

One of my favourite types of posts to read are 'disappointing products', so thought today I would share mine. I found it really hard to find disappointing products in my collection, mainly because I went back and tested them all again to insure that they belonged in this post and I really changed my opinions on some of them! At the end of the process I was left with these five and here's why they disappointed me.

Dove Dry Shampoo (£4.59/200ml)  - I searched high and low for this dry shampoo after hearing so much about it but as I mentioned in my Dry Shampoo round up  this stuff just does nothing my hair and quite frankly was a waste of both time and money.

Too Faced Better than sex mascara (£19.00) - I got this mascara in a beauty box and expected to love it as every review I've seen has been extremely positive. Although If I'm being completely honest this is just a slightly better than average mascara, and I have ones a quarter of the price from the high street which give my lashes a similar effect. I'm not saying this mascara is all bad, in fact it does have some good points for example the shape of it allows me to coat every lash and it doesn't leave your lashes feeling stiff. I do really like it, but If I'm spending nearly £20 on such a hyped mascara I expect the wow factor! Something this just didnt deliver for me. I also found that on a hot day I've ended up with bits of black under my eyes, which isn't my ideal look!

Barry M Gelly Nail Paint in Rose Hip (£3.99) - I've tried four other Gelly nail paints and completely adored them, although Rose Hip just doesn't match up. I've tried using this on two separate occasions now and have found it so streaky! This just doesn't work for me, which is a shame because the shade in the bottle looks so pretty.

Sleek Face Form in fair (£9.99)  - I've seen so many people rate this palette as amazing for pale skin, but as I discussed in my Contour wars post, The bronzer in this is just miles too dark for anyone as pale as me  meaning I hardly use this palette at all. It's a shame since I'd been after this palette for such a long time and figured it would be great for traveling.

Topshop Lip Bullet in 'There she goes' (£8.00) - I have a feeling I swatched a different shade instore/ or the lighting tricked me as there is no way I would have picked 'There she goes'. This is just an awful shimmery pink shade which has made it on the disappointing products post purely because of the shade.

There you have it, five products which have disappointed me. Do you have any disappointing products of your own? PS. This is the first post I've written since reaching 500 Bloglovin' followers over the weekend so would like to say a massive thank you to each and every one of you! 

Rebel with cause

It's easy to see why make up revolution have caused such a stir in the beauty community, not only do they have a rather impressive range of products, they also offer fantastic value for money too! When I heard that many were deeming this £1 lipstick Rebel with Cause from Make Up Revolution a dupe for MACs Rebel I had to give it a try. 

Rebel without cause is a shade which scares the hell out of me in bullet form, but on the lips, there's something really wearable about this lipstick and I love it against my skin tone! While I cant compare this with MAC's version personally, I've seen these two together on other blogs and have admit its pretty hard to tell them apart, the only major difference appears to be the £14.50 in price.

I find Rebel with cause to be moisturising on the lips during the first hour of wear, after this the light shimmer appears to face and you're left with a lovely matte version of this berry shade which lasts for a good few hours. I really like the matte look you're left with and to be honest sometimes I even blot the lipstick to have this as my starting point.

Overall I love the lipstick, my only regret is not picking up more! You can pick this up for just a £1 on the Make Up Revolution website. Have you tried anything from Make Up Revolution? 

My everyday brushes..

Before I started blogging I had no interest in brushes, now I couldn't be without them! While my loved make up products seem to come and go like clockwork the brushes in my collection remain loved and have probably been some of my best beauty investments. Today I'm going to put the spotlight on the brushes I use on a daily basis!

As you may be able to tell from the array of colours, I am a huge Real Techniques fan ! Although there are a couple of other brands which have managed to sneak their way into my collection. For reference the brushes below are as followed,  Japonesque Travel sized Powder brush  ,EcoTools Blush Brush ,Real Techniques blush brush, Real Techniques stippling brush, Real Techniques Buffing Brush, The real Techniques Base Shadow brush and the Real Techniques Deluxe Crease Brush.

Japonesque Travel sized Powder brush (£35.95) - Believe it or not the price I have for this brush is actually a special offer according to the website I found! I picked this up years ago in a Boots Clearance for just £3.50, and think since then it's become a lot harder to source, as that was the only UK stockist I could find online. At first I gave this brush a hard time and thought it shed way too much, although after the first few washes this completely stopped and I fell in love. I just love how soft this brush feels against the face! It's also double the size of my other powder brushes meaning product doesn't apply too heavily. I really love this brush, and am so upset I didn't pick up a backup, although it still has plenty of life left in it for now! 

EcoTools Blush Brush (From Set £3.59) - I have no idea if this brush is a genuine EcoTools brush or not, but I've had and loved this baby for two years and it has yet to disappoint so in my eyes its worth every penny regardless of if its real or not. This actually come in a set of five for under £4, although I have no idea what happened to the other four! I just love using this one for contouring with, it's just the perfect shape for the job and washes up nicely. I'd highly recommend having a look at some of the Ecotools brushes ebay has to offer!

Real Techniques blush brush (£7.50) - This is one of two blush brushes I use as I like to rotate them depending on the type of blush I use. I use this one whenever I use a powder blush. At first I think the size confused me a little and I didn't see how this would work. However after using this for myself I now think the rather large size gives this brush an advantage as it means that the product is really lightly applied, this is also amazing for blending product out. I would highly recommend this if you're a fan of powder blushes. Ps. You may spot that strange dent on the blush brush in the pictures, I have no idea how it got there, although I would say the material these are made from is the only (minor) disadvantage as this isn't the only brush I own to be affected, as you will see in a bit. However I will point out I am yet to have a RT brush break on me, which is amazing considering that I use them on a daily basis.

Real Techniques Buffing Brush (from the core collection, £14.02) - If I could only ever use one brush, this would be it! I know everyone says it but this brush was just a complete game changer for me. It just makes my liquid foundations look flawless and I couldn't be without it! Like all RT this washes up beautifully and doesn't shed, the only downside to this is you can't by this brush individually, however the set is relatively cheap on Amazon for under £15.

Real Techniques Stippling Brush (£8.15) - I have always been a big fan of stippling brushes, in fact I believe my first brush was a stippling one from ELF which I used for my foundation. This however applies my cream blushes beautifully allowing my skin to have a really lovely natural flush. I think what's great about this brush is that you could use it in so many different ways, for example if you didn't get on with it for cream blushes you could try stippling your foundation or even your bronzer!

Real Techniques Deluxe Crease Brush (from the starter kit, £12.93) - To be honest I rarely use this for eye shadow and have found this is the perfect brush for buffing in my cream concealer to help maximise the coverage. However again I have an issue with the material these brushes are made from as this brush is now slightly bent!

Real Techniques base shadow brush (from the starter kit, £12.93) - If I'm wearing an eye shadow look this is pretty much my go to brush. It just gets the job done and makes eye shadow looks pretty easy!

So there you have it, the brushes I love to use on a daily basis! What are your favourite brushes?

Orly Glosser Super High-Shine Topcoat

I've not bothered with a topcoat for a while now, to be honest they just bore me a little bit and I can think of more exciting things to spend my money on. But when I saw this Orly one for just £2.99 (rrp £11.50) in TK Maxx I had to give it a go. Glosser promises to 'give nails lasting protection and super-slick shine' which according to you guys it achieves as I've had some lovely comments about my nails lately including how shiny they looked. This is pretty much my secret weapon when it comes to my nail looks lately and it somehow makes them last 3-4 days with no signs of chipping which is unheard of for me.

I'm a big fan of this stuff, and would consider buying it again. What's your favourite topcoat?

Simply Sun Kissed

I've never dyed my hair, although I love using lightening products in the summer, So when Mellor & Russell contacted me about their Simply Sun Kissed Gradual Hair Lightener* (which retails at just a pound!) I jumped at the chance to try it. For years I  have been extremely loyal to a similar product which retails for around seven times the price of this one, so was interested to see if this could match up. 

The problem with my hair is that I have just about every shade of blonde mixed into it, it's just naturally like this and tends to be darker towards the roots as you may see in the below pictures. Although I do prefer the lighter look which has lead me towards products such as this in the past. 

Mellor & Russell's Simply Sun Kissed, comes in a handy 200ml spray bottle which you simply apply to wet hair and blow dry since this is heat activated. Although admittedly I have skipped this step a couple of times as I have a tendency to be very lazy! But I do use heat tools later in the day which I think has been helpful, It was also pointed out to me that you could simply sit out in the sun after which I think is a great idea. I've used this around 4-5 times now, and have noticed a big difference to my hair. Sadly this doesn't show as much in the below pictures as it does in person, although hopefully you can see that this has had an effect on my hair and has really helped to blend those darker tones! I've just spotted that I was in PJ's for both of these pictures with second day unstyled hair like the pro I am.

Overall I think this is a great product for the price and I will be buying again if my bottle ever runs out, I am a complete convert to this, and wont be spending £7 on a gradual lighter again! You can pick this up in Poundland for (you've guessed it) a pound! If you're interested in this I recommend having a browse of Mellor & Russell's website here, I'm quite surprised by just how many products they have and will be on the look out for the skincare line, You can also keep up to date with there new releases on their Facebook page.

Have you tried anything from Mellor & Russell?

Memebox Scentbox #3

Sometimes I cant help but find myself utterly disappointed with some of the beauty boxes on offer in the UK, So when Korean based brand Memebox got in touch to tell me about their beauty boxes I jumped at the chance to try one! Memebox offer an amazing range of boxes which you can see here, ranging in both price and themes. Unlike other beauty boxes, they aren't a rolling subscription service meaning there are no commitments and you can buy the boxes as you please.

I was sent the scentbox #3* filled with a selection of grapefruit themed products to try. I believe the this is one of three scentbox's Memebox offer along with rose and baby powder. They retail at just $15 (£8.76) plus delivery which I'm sure you'll agree is amazing value when you've seen the contents of the box!

 While I'm sure many would assume delivery would be a lengthy process, My Memebox was sent from Korea on Wednesday and was in the UK ready to be delivered by Friday! Sadly I missed my DHL man, so didn't end up getting this to the week after, although I still think in the grand scheme of things this is pretty speedy going considering how far this box had travelled. I loved that you get a tracking number so you know where you box is every step of the way. Although it's not just the uk that Memebox deliver to, in fact memebox is available to an impressive 45 countries directly from Korea.

One of the things I loved most about this box is this handy double sided card which explains which each product is and how to use it. Every single product in this box is full sized, something unheard of with a lot of UK based beauty boxes!

Evas Mimi Lauryne's Dress Perfume Mist de grapefruit ($18.00/150ml) - This is a really lovely grapefruit scented room spray which I've been pretty addicted to since opening this box! It comes in a lovely looking bottle and its a decent amount too.

Karl28 Sunkilling Grapefruit Gel ($30.00/270ml) - This next product retails at double the amount of the box cost meaning you're really getting your moneys worth! It's like Memebox were reading my mind with this one, as the day before I received my this in my Memebox I got really badly sun burnt, after a few days with this my sunburn had disappeared, best of all I used the tiniest amount so I have a feeling this bottle will get me through the whole summer!

Sun Smile Hydro Gel Choosy Fruit ($2 per mask) - Korea is known for its innovative products, so I was super excited to receive these lip marks as I haven't seen anything like this in the UK. I'm really looking forward to putting these to the test and seeing if I can actually last that long with these on! ( The card recommends wearing them for 10-15 minutes)

Happy Fam Deo Fresh Grapefruit ($2/20 wipes) - While these deo wipes are a more practical item, I personally think they're a great idea as they're lightweight and really ideal for travelling! I also think $2 is a really great price point!

The team over at Memebox has been lovely enough to send me a promo code to share with you guys, allowing you to get $5 off your order throughout July, simply enter FC3OSO at the check out. (This is limited to one use per customer). What do you guys think of Memebox?

The dry shampoo round up

I'm a massive fan of dry shampoo, so figured today I would share with you the current ones in my collection. The first product I have is from a brand I always seem to have in my stash, Batiste (£2.99/200ml), up until recently Batiste were the only brand which I felt worked for my hair. For me Batiste just really helps get rid of any grease really effectively and makes hair which is in a need of a good wash last and extra day. They also have an amazing range of scents/colours meaning there really is something for everyone! I tend to switch it up every time I buy from them and find they all work as well as each other! While I really love the whole Batiste  range and they do a wonderful job of tackling grease, I've found they have never given me that voluminous 'just washed' look which has lead me reaching for other dry shampoos. 

The first one I tried on my search was this Dove hair therapy refresh + care dry shampoo (£4.59/200ml), I'm a massive fan of Dove hair care and had read so many rave reviews on this stuff so expected to love it, although to be honest it literally did nothing for my hair and I was left so disappointed.. My flatmate also tried this and also found the same thing as me. It's safe to say at nearly a fiver I wont be picking this one up again! My most recent dry shampoo purchase is this Vo5 Plump it up dry shampoo (£3.59/200ml) designed for fine, flat or oily hair, I believe there are two in the range although this seemed like the most appropriate for my hair type. I hadn't read much on this so I didn't know what to expect, although to be honest it took me buy complete surprise! With this I find that my hair actually looks like its just been washed, as apposed to the non greasy but limp look I get with Batiste. Whats also great about this is if you massage your roots throughout the day you can continue to build volume if you're in need of a boost! It's just an amazing all-rounder in my book!

Whats your favourite dry shampoo?

Essence Colour & Go Polish in 'that's what i mint!'

I'm a big fan of these Colour & Go polishes from Essence, so figured today I would share one of my favourites from the range, 'that's what i mint!'*. These polishes have a nice big brush which means painting your nails is made super quick and effortless, you only need two coats of polish too! Above is the polish (with a top and base coat) after a days wear, This nail look remained chip free for around 4 days which I was really impressed with!

Best of all these retail at just £1.59 and there's a huge selection of shades! 
Have you tried anything from Essence yet? 

Free Clinique in Glamour magazine

In this months issue of Glamour (on sale now/£2.00) readers are given the choice of four different Clinique freebies, including minis of their famous high impact mascara, dramatically different moisturizing lotion +, a chubby stick in super strawberry, or a chubby stick in woppin' watermelon.

Personally I picked up both shades of Chubby sticks (L-R: Woppin' Watermelon and Super Stawberry) which I imagine will fade fast, so I'd recommend rushing out today if you want give them a go!

Will you be making the most of this bargain?

Maybelline Color Show Bleached Neons in the shade 'coral heat'

It's rare that I find a polish in my rather oversized collection that I've used more than twice, so I when I found myself applying this for around the fifth time yesterday I knew it was about time I had to share it with you guys! 'Coral Heat' is one of the four bleached neon shades available over on the boots website. As soon as I spotted it I knew it had to be mine as its unlike anything else in my collection. I found the application to be really easy and after a few coats the polish lasted for a good few days which is pretty average for my nails.

I just love wearing this shade, and cant wait to try more from the collection, A complete steal at £3.99!

Aldi's Festival Beauty Fix for under £5!

When this email first popped into my inbox I was automatically sold. The idea of a whole Festival Beauty kit for under £5 really appealed to me, especially as most people heading to a festival aren't going to want to take there most expensive products with them! The whole kit sent to me by Aldi consists of four items comes to the grand total of £3.76. Meaning its not the end of the world if the products end up misplaced or caked or mud by the time it comes to hometime!

Lacura 3 in 1 facial cleansing wipes* (£0.89/30 pack) - Festivals tend to leave you pretty grubby, and you're not necessarily going to have easy access to a shower meaning a deep cleanse is probably out of the question. Making wipes a pretty appealing option. These Aldi wipes aim to cleanse, tone and moisturise in one step. Although what really appealed to me is that these Lacura wipes come in a pack for 30 for under a £1! I imagine these would come in handy a lot!

Lacura roll-on deodorant* (£0.59/50ml) - Deodorant is a must have and I've recently switched using roll on deodorants so this was a welcomed addition to the kit.  I'm actually really impressed that this retails for just 59p and definitely would pick it up again! It's long lasting and has a really nice fresh scent to it.

Lacura SPF15 Daily Face Cream* (£1.49/75ml) - Despite the lack of deep cleanse, It's still important to care for you skin. So Aldi have added this face cream to the beauty kit. Not only does it have moisturising benefits, it has added SPF help protect your skin while you're out and about! I've been putting this to the test over the past week and have to say it works a treat and is very lightweight on the skin.

Carino Hairspray Natural Hold* (£0.79/400ml) - Lastly Aldi have added this natural hold hairspary to the kit. At first I was a little puzzled by the addition of this as hair spray tends to leave my hair sticky and often greasy the next day. Although after putting this to the test myself I understand why this has made the cut. Firstly with this I don't actually feel like I'm wearing in hairspray, instead it is lightweight and gives my hair a healthy shine to it. Something I imagine would appeal to many after days without a descent hair wash.

So there you have it, everything in Aldi's Festival fix beauty kit, personally I think they have gone a fab job and loved all of the products! Although  I think that I personally would add a dry shampoo along with a body sun cream. Are you heading to a Festival? Would you consider these cheap Aldi alternatives? 

Topshop Glow Stick in 'Play Up'

One of the things I was lucky enough to receive for my birthday this year was this Topshop Glow stick in the shade 'play up'. I am such a huge fan of both Topshop make up and highlighting products so this little beauty was pretty much the perfect gift for me! Topshop Glow sticks are cream based products designed to 'sculpt, define and enhance the skin' , I believe there are two shades available play up and spotlight. 

Play up is a beautiful champagne shade which helps to add a glowy finish to the skin that remains throughout the day. While the packaging makes this product ideal to apply directly to the skin and blend, I personally find this method makes the product too streaky on my skin so prefer using my finger to apply the product to the top of my cheekbones which I find just gives the loveliest glow. The packaging itself is really sturdy, and the twisty bit coincides with the shade inside making these easy to locate in a big collection. The only downside would be the fact that after just a month the writing is staring to come away.

I hope you can see in the above picture both the glow stick applied directly to the skin (bottom swatch) and the glow stick applied with my fingers (Top). Overall I love this product, and can see it lasting me a long long time! Whats your favourite product from Topshop?