Holly Jolly Holiday Tag!
-Favorite Christmas movie? I covered this in my previous Winterlicious! tag, I love all the funny ones like Jingle All The Way, Elf, The Santa Clause, but i also love Love Actually, we watched that tonight and it definitely got me in the mood :) And of course, It's A Wonderful Life, but i think that goes without saying!
Winterlicious Tag!!
Oh me, oh my, can you think of a better way to start a Christmas tag?! He's adorbz!! Hello again and welcome to the Winterlicious tag! This tag was created by MacBarbie07, who is brilliant, so i thought i'd give it a go myself, get geared up for the Christmas time!!
Christmas Prep Haul!
Deck the halls with boughs of holly, falalalalalalalalaaaaaaa! Evening :) Firstly, are you liking my new Christmassy blog design?? Or have i gone a bit overboard haha? I hadn't thought about doing a Christmas decoration/prep haul until i saw Louise from Sprinkle Of Glitter do a video about hers, then it seemed like a no brainer idea! Be warned, this is a monster of a post! I'd get a cup of tea and a biccy before you browse through this baby!!
Lush Golden Wonder Bath Ballistic!
Hello! I went to the wonderland of delicious smells that is Lush at the weekend! Sooo much stuff i wanted to snatch up but i staved off my cravings with just the one humongous bath ballistic! The lovely Golden Wonder!
You Beauty Advent Calendar 2012!
I Instagrammed this picture of the box, isn't it beautiful! Not as nice as the Selfridges one, but this is really big and substantial with a lovely pink bow :) I'll show you an assortment of the stuff you get in the calendar, but i won't show you it all as it'll spoil the surprise! but if you want to see a full list they show you one on their website :)

Friday, 31 May 2013

New 2013 Blusher Shades From MUA!

Hello again gorgeous people!

I've gone and done it again, I'm a professional at spending money aren't I!

But when I saw MUA tweet about these 6 new blush shades for 2013 I just HAD to take advantage, especially since all MUA cosmetics are 3 for 2 on their website at the moment (and I did mention in my last post that I'm a complete sucker for a 3 for 2!) so I got all 6 for £4!

Now lets get cracking, I warn you, this is a picture heavy post!!

Cupcake

This is a lovely, dusky peach/rose colour with a brown tone to it, it's a matte blush with not even a hint of shimmer in it.

It's quite a soft consistency and super pigmented! So I'd suggest using a light hand with this blush.

Candyfloss

This is slightly less bright than the pictures picking it up to be, but you'll see the true colour in my swatches later on in this post, but as you can it has some fine pink glitter running through it, but don't be scared, not too much comes out when you swatch it!

This isn't as smooth as Cupcake but is still very pigmented.

Bubblegum

If you (like me) love BRIGHT colours, then you'll love this!

It's a bright pinky-coral, another matte shade too and this one is also super soft, but a bit more chalky than the first one.

Marshmallow

Another bright! But this time it's a magenta pink, once again there's not a hint of shimmer in this and it's really soft and not as chalky as Bubblegum.

Lolly

This is a true peach, not as pink as it appears in the picture above, and has some silver shimmer shot through it.

This isn't as pigmented as the others, which is good if you're more heavy handed.

BonBon

And finally, the most natural shade amongst them all in my opinion, this is a dark pink colour, also matte, and very pigmented!

From left to right - Cupcake, Candyfloss, Bubblegum.

From left to right - Marshmallow, Lolly, BonBon.

As you can see from all the swatches, these are such different colours to each other that I'm glad I bought all of them now!

It's a whole wardrobe of blush, for only £4!

The packaging of these blushes is different to the old ones, the transparent top lifts up from the bottom instead of the side, and I like the fact they have MUA written on the top and also embossed into the blush, it makes it look more expensive!

The only downside is that the little stickers on the front that say ''new'' leave behind a sticky residue, which is a massive pain!!

All in all these blushes are amazing for the price! For £1 you get amazing pigmentation, a brilliant range of colours and fairly sturdy packaging.

You can currently only buy these at the MUA website, but they'll be launched in Superdrug soon.

Thanks for reading!!

xxx

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Thursday, 30 May 2013

REVIEW: NYC All Day Long Smooth Skin Foundation.

Hello again!!

Today I'm here to scare you with my bare, naked face again in another foundation review!

This time it's for the NYC All Day Long Smooth Skin foundation (longest name ever?).

I don't really know why I picked this foundation up, I don't buy a lot of stuff from NYC but I was taking advantage of Superdrugs 3 for 2 on all cosmetics (yes, again!) and this foundation caught my eye!

I was looking for a more tanned foundation for myself because I had been hitting the bottle (of fake tan!) pretty hard that week, so I got this in the shade Soft Honey.

I quite like the packaging, it doesn't look too cheap and the transparent bottle means you'll be able to see when you're running low on product.

It has a pump (Revlon, take note!!) and a pretty secure cap so that means it won't squirt all over the inside of your makeup bag and make a mess.

It's quite a firm foundation, not runny at all, but that means you do have to work quickly at spreading it over your face before it sets.

Now for the obligatory no makeup shot, people with a nervous disposition, look away now...

It's 8am here and I've just woken up so my skin's still pretty puffy and red, especially around the chin and nose, and of course my dreaded dark circles!

And this is me after! I really like the finish of the foundation, it's dewy but not oily and covers all my imperfections well, but I'd still use some concealer personally!

But my skintone definitely looks more even and smooth, and the colour was a great match for my fake tanned neck!

This is what the foundation promises to do on its website ;

BENEFITS

Blurs fine lines, dark circles and wrinkles into dreamy nothingness.

Controls shine and stays put: even when the heat is on.

Smudge and rub proof means no annoying marks on your new Marc tee!

Feels bouncy and comfortable on your skin…all day, everyday.

Soft and fresh, matt but not mask like.

So I went to work to test it, I used it a couple of times so I could form a proper opinion on it.

These next pictures are after I've been at work for only 6 hours;

As you can see, it's not at all impressive!!

It's all but worn off my face, in these unattractive patches making my face look like a patchwork quilt!

As well as wearing off my face, it has also made the rest of my makeup wear off.

As you can see round my mouth its left a white outline where it's worn off, definitely a poor show!

It claims it lasts 14 hours but it most definitely doesn't!

I don't know whether I would have a better result if I'd bought a pale shade that matched my skintone, I might try the palest shade out now my fake tan has worn off, but I highly doubt it and I'm extremely unimpressed by this product!

Pro's

. Nice finish on the skin when you initially apply it

. Simple, practical packaging

Cons

. Wears off within a couple of hours in a horrible, patchy way

. Causes the rest of your makeup to wear off too

. Feels like silicone on the skin after a hour or two

. Sinks into fine lines on my face

. Doesn't live upto any of the promises it makes on its website

. Only has 5 shades in its range

And there we go!

What a disappointment, I'd say instead of spending the £3.99 on this foundation you'd be better off spending another £1 on the MUA Undress Your Skin foundation, which is a far superior formula!

If, for some reason, you want to try this foundation, it's available in Superdrug stores nationwide, and online.

xxx

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Wednesday, 29 May 2013

Rimmel 60 Second Nail Varnish - Mary Mary Quite Contrary!

Aloha sweeties!

As most of you probably know, Superdrug has a 3 for 2 offer on all their cosmetics at the moment, which is basically the red rag to my proverbial bull and means I must go in there as much as possible and blow all my money!

When I was in there at the weekend I bought a couple of things (I have an upcoming haul so I won't spoil the surprise!) but my free item was this beautiful Rimmel 60 Seconds nail varnish in the shade Mary Mary Quite Contrary.

I've never seen this nail varnish before, but it's absolutely beautiful!

It's a light lilac-grey colour with a hint of pink in it, really unusual and so pretty!

Isn't it gorgeous?!

Super feminine and really clean looking, just makes your hands look more sophisticated (is that weird?!) and will go with any colour you're wearing too.

This is what I used as my base and top coat, I'm pretty new to OPI Nail Envy and Seche Vite but I'm pretty impressed by them so far!

My nails seem a bit stronger from the Nail Envy and Seche Vite really hardens my nail varnish and makes it super shiny, I wasn't massively impressed by it when I first started using it but it's definitely grown on me!

I bought both the Seche Vite and Matte Nail Envy from Amazon, they were massively discounted and I can assure you that they're 100% real! Just click on the product names to be taken straight to where you can buy them.

The formula of the Rimmel nail varnishes are amazing, it was opaque in two coats and was super shiny even before I put on my Seche Vite top coat!

I've only had it on one day so far so I can't comment on its lasting power, but as I've got my top coat on I wouldn't be able to fairly judge it on that anyway.

I'd definitely recommend buying this polish, it's perfect for the (alleged) Summer months that are on the way!

You can buy this Rimmel polish from Boots and Superdrug online and stores nationwide for only £3.69!

TTFN!

xxx

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My Ideas For A Perfect Girls Night In!

Hollaaa!

I got an email the other day which had lots of interesting facts from a survey by Ladbrokes Bingo that showed 70% of women enjoy a girls night in more than a girls night out!

I'm going round my best friends house for a ''girls night in'' (or a sleepover as we used to call it) tonight so I thought this would be a perfect time to show you what we consider to be the makings of a winning night in!

The survey also says that 72% of women would get dressed up for a girls night in, but I can't say I agree with that one, if it doesn't involve pyjamas then it's not relaxing enough for me haha!

This may not look like the most hardcore girls night in, but we love our creature comforts!

Firstly, what is a girls night in without some delicious food?! We usually plump for a Domino's or a Chinese takeaway, nice and low calorie ;)

We always order FAR too much food and can never eat all of it, but we give it a damn good go!!

Usually we don't drink alcohol on our nights in, we go for a more pampering and relaxing night, so orange Lucozade is a particular favourite tipple of mine! But if we are having a drink we'll usually plump for a fruity cider like Bulmers (their new flavours cherry and grape are lush, but always drink responsibly kids) or Jacques.

After we've filled our bellies with food the next stop for us is picking a movie! I've picked some girly films like Sex And The City the movie and Sleepless In Seattle (one of my favourite films!) and also a comedy, Anchorman (''Brick...where did you get a hand grenade?'') because they're uplifting watches for a night in, but if you're like me and my best friend and you have a altogether stronger stomach, then go for a horror film! We've watched allsorts of horror/supernatural/thriller films on our nights in, my particular favourites were The Fourth Kind and Hostel, but maybe just go for a nice happy film if you're not as...odd as me and my friends :)

As I mentioned before, our nights in are more about pampering, so face masks are a given! As much as I love all my pricier ones like Origins, you can never go wrong with good old Montagne Jeunesse, they come in multi-use tubes or one-use sachets, and you can get so many different kinds that there's something for everyone! My favourites are the peel-off ones, they're so easy and there's something satisfying about peeling them off (or is that just me?).

And finally to top off the pampering, a manicure! I own so many nail varnishes, as you'll know if you're a regular reader of this blog, so obviously giving me and my friend a manicure is top of my list for a night in! I've picked some Barry M nail varnishes above, because if I was pushed to choose a favourite brand it would probably have to be them! Their glitters are out of this world so definitely check them out and stock up before your next girls night in!

And that's everything me and my friends need for a proper girly night in! Apart from some gossip and cosy pyjamas of course, but that's a given ;)

Do you and your friends have a different kind of girls night to me? Let me know!

Thanks for reading!

xxx

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Thursday, 23 May 2013

Loreal EverRiche Sulphate Free Hair Regime - Review!

Hi!

I was sent these hair products from Loreal about a month ago, I thought I'd wait a little while to review them so I could make sure I gave you an accurate review :)

They sent me the EverRiche Nourishing & Flowing shampoo, conditioner and intensive mask.

Basically, this range of products contains no waxes and no sulphates so is kinder on your hair, and smoothes it without the help of chemical nasties.

Firstly the shampoo, this is such a nourishing and softening shampoo! I was sceptical that this wouldn't perform without the help of sulphates and waxes, but it's amazing! Makes my hair so soft and manageable, I have wavy hair and after I've used this and the conditioner my hair is completely frizz-free and my curls are way more defined!

The conditioner is much the same, I don't use it on my roots as conditioners tend to weigh down my hair, but it makes my ends so silky, very impressive!

And the nourishing mask is equally as impressive! I only use a small bit on my ends about once a week, and my hair was dip-dyed up until very recently so my ends are the dryest part, and I can definitely say it's helped restore moisture back to that part of my hair!

The smell of these products is also lovely, really fresh and smells strongly of almonds and cream, gorgeous!

Plus the packaging is very chic and looks extremely upmarket!

These products are £5.99 for the shampoo and conditioner and £6.99 for the intensive conditioner, but online and instore at Boots at the moment you can get two products from the Loreal Expertise range for £9 so I'd definitely recommend scurrying down to Boots and grabbing these to try! They also do the EverSleek and EverStrong ranges too, I'm definitely interested in trying EverStrong once these run out!

So my first foray into sulphate free shampoos and conditioners has been a success! I was wary at first but I can safely say that my hair is thanking for me trying them out!

Thanks for reading!

xxx

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Wednesday, 15 May 2013

New Candle Haul - Including A Dupe For Bath & Bodyworks Market Peach!

Hola girlies!

It's candle-o-clock here at The Beauty Belle once again! What can I say, I have an obsession with buying a lot of things, and candles is one of them!

These are all wax tarts though so in my eyes, I've actually been quite good ;)

I got all of these tarts from Ebay, I will list a seller you can buy the tarts from underneath the pictures if I can find one.

Sicilian Lemon - £1.68.

This is a lovely, subtle lemon scent, not quite as strong and overpowering as Sparkling Lemonade, this smells more like actual lemon juice.

I'm not usually a massive fan of lemon scents but I wanted something nice and fresh for Summer.

White Gardenia - £1.68.

I actually got this for my mam because she loves the smell of gardenia's, it's just a nice, light floral scent, I can imagine this scent being a crowd pleaser and being liked by everyone!

Loves Me, Loves Me Not - £1.68.

This smells EXACTLY like daisies! It's unbelievable how they've captured the scent of daisies and grass on a Summers day in this tart, I can't wait to burn this when the weather gets better.

Mango Peach Salsa - £1.68.

This is a super strong scent, it really fills the room quickly and can be quite overpowering at times! But if you're burning it in a big room then it'd be great cos you can literally smell it all around my house when I've burnt it before! Smells more of mango than peach, though which is disappointing for me.

Vanilla Lime - £1.68.

I'm loving limes at the moment, lime cheesecake, the Lime Refresher drink from Starbucks, and lime scents from Yankee Candle! I wish they'd launch more because it's such a refreshing change to the usual lemon scents, and vanilla is one of my favourite scents ever so that gives this scent a lovely warmness.

Orange Dreamsicle - £2.75.

This is a rarer scent which is why it's more expensive than the others, it smells exactly like orange Calippo lollies! really fresh and sweet, reminds me of hot Summer days in the park eating ice lollies :)

Granny Smith - £2.75.

I'm burning this one at the moment in my bedroom, it's a mix of freshness with a slight acidic kick of the granny smith apples, very nice! Smells like straight-up apple juice.

Summer Scoop - £1.95.

O. M. G.

This smells exactly like strawberry ice-cream!! It's crazy, I haven't burnt this yet, I'm, again, saving it for the good weather but as soon as the sun comes out from behind the clouds again I will be cracking this out and craving strawberry ice-cream by the truckload!!

Honey Blossom - £1.95.

I'm not usually a floral person but I really like the sweetness of this floral scent, it's not like any other floral Yankee Candle that I've ever smelt!

Plus, the colour of the tart is beautiful and matches my bedroom perfectly ;)

Freestone Peach - £1.68.

This is an amazing scent, it smells like straight up peach! No messing around with this, it just smells like you've cut a peach in half and sniffed it!

This is exactly how people are describing the much-loved Market Peach candle from Bath & Bodyworks, as just a straight up peach, so as we can't get hold of that candle in the UK this is an amazing dupe for it!

The scent throw for Kringle Candles are amazing too, they're owned by Yankee Candle so you get the same quality, they're just simpler and more uncomplicated scents.

Bartlett Pear - £1.68.

I'm burning this at the moment, like the peach one this just smells like fresh pears, nothing more and nothing less! It's amazing how they can replicate scents so perfectly!

And that's that!

As you can see, I didn't go too mad....ok fair enough, I did! And I can't promise I won't be buying more, but hey-ho! We all have to have a hobby!

Thanks for reading! And if you have any favourite candles you would like to recommend to me then please do :)

TTFN!

xxx

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Tuesday, 14 May 2013

NUXE Reve De Miel Lip Balm - A Letdown!

Hello cats and kittens!

How are we all doing? I'm currently suffering from toothache (again), my sensitive teeth are playing up so I think I'm going to have invest in some more sensitive toothpaste, I mean to keep using it all the time but then I get suckered into whitening toothpastes, which probably do nothing for my sensitivity!

But on the upside, I have a one day week this week, I'm only working Wednesday, so don't feel too sorry for me ;)

Moving onto the review!

As you can see from the title, this review is not an entirely positive one! I first heard about the NUXE Reve De Miel lip balm from the famous Miss Essie Button, she said she loved it and it was super nourishing and solved her dry lips even when she went home to a pretty chilly Canada, so I was sold!

It's pretty pricey, £9.50 on FeelUnique.com, but I got it when it was 10% off so I wasn't ripped off too royally!

This is what the packaging looks like;

It's lovely packaging, a sturdy, frosted glass jar which houses a very thick, yellow balm which looks a lot like lemon curd, if anyone knows what that is!

It goes on the lips clear though so don't worry about that! It goes on pretty matte and feels thick and heavy on my lips, which I'm not a massive fan of, I'm used to quite slippery lip balms that feel smooth when you rub your lips together (an annoying habit I have that I do all the time).

It smells of honey and lemon, like those Beechams cold and flu powders you can get, not particularly my favourite scent but it's not too bad, plus it has no taste which is a plus point.

It's not that this is a terrible lip balm, I just feel like it's a letdown that isn't good enough for the money you pay for it!

It doesn't last very long on my lips, despite Essie saying it does on her which just shows that everyones taste is different, it hasn't noticeably changed the appearance of my lips and I feel bad reapplying it all the time because it's so pricey!

Plus, I find it sometimes leaves an annoying white residue on the inside of my lips, the kind that some lipglosses leave behind when you've been wearing them a while and they go all claggy! But it only does that sometimes so it might be because my lips are so dry at times.

I am thinking of using this as just a nighttime treatment, and getting the NUXE Reve De Miel Moisturizing Stick for the daytime, as I don't want to write off the whole brand just yet!

Pro's

. Lovely packaging

. Thick enough to use as a overnight treatment

. Natural ingredients mean it'd be good for sensitive skin
. You get a massive 12g of product, meaning it'll last a long time

Cons

. Makes my lips feel sticky

. Not a comfortable texture for me

. Very expensive for a lipbalm

Overall, I'm not saying this lipbalm doesn't work, I'm saying this lipbalm doesn't work FOR ME, by all means if you've got dry lips then give this a try, it might be holy grail for you like it is for so many people!

You can purchase this and plenty of other NUXE products online at FeelUnique.com.

Thanks for reading!

xxx

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Wednesday, 8 May 2013

Bargain Rimmel ''Kate Moss'' Lipsticks on Fragrance Direct!

Hi guys (unlikely) and dolls!!

I have an exciting offer to share with you!

I'm a big fan of these Kate Moss from Rimmel lipsticks, they're very creamy and similar in formula to MAC cremesheen lipsticks, and are very pigmented.

They're usually £5.49 in Superdrug and Boots, which is cheap as it is!, but now they're available online at Fragrance Direct for just £1.99!!

So I got three gorgeous pinky shades;

From left to right, I got 05, 19 and 06.

They're beautiful, wearable shades and have that lovely ''lipstick'' smell, like the lipsticks I used to wear when I was very young!

Top is 05, middle is 19 and bottom is 06.

They're super glossy lipsticks, 19 looks shimmery in the above swatch but it's not at all, just the camera flash caught it in a way that makes it look like it contains shimmer.

05 is a darker pink, dusky rose colour, 19 is a brown toned pink and 06 is a bright coral pink, very similar to MAC Impassioned!

I wish they had lovely names rather than just numbers for names though, but that's my only complaint!

So if you're a big fan of these lipsticks I suggest you scurry over to Fragrance Direct, they have so many different shades you're bound to find something to suit you! And if you're unsure as to what the colour looks like, because the little colour swatches Fragrance Direct put on their website aren't very accurate, then just Google the shade name and there'll be plenty of swatches online somewhere :)

Have you found any bargains online lately? Let me know!

Thanks for reading!

xxx

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Pages

Holly Jolly Holiday Tag!

Winterlicious Tag!!

Christmas Prep Haul!

Lush Golden Wonder Bath Ballistic!

You Beauty Advent Calendar 2012!

Friday, 31 May 2013

New 2013 Blusher Shades From MUA!

Thursday, 30 May 2013

REVIEW: NYC All Day Long Smooth Skin Foundation.

BENEFITS

Wednesday, 29 May 2013

Rimmel 60 Second Nail Varnish - Mary Mary Quite Contrary!

My Ideas For A Perfect Girls Night In!

Thursday, 23 May 2013

Loreal EverRiche Sulphate Free Hair Regime - Review!

Wednesday, 15 May 2013

New Candle Haul - Including A Dupe For Bath & Bodyworks Market Peach!

Tuesday, 14 May 2013

NUXE Reve De Miel Lip Balm - A Letdown!

Wednesday, 8 May 2013

Bargain Rimmel ''Kate Moss'' Lipsticks on Fragrance Direct!