No! No! update

In December I bought the No! No! hair removal device and this is my first update on my progress with it.

I have to admit I haven't been using this as often as it recommends or as I'd like but I have still seen some good results.

Arm hair in December 2011 before starting using No! No!

Regrowth in February 2012

Hopefully you can see from the most recent photo that regrowth is definitely slower and sparser than before I started using the device. I also started using this on my legs and I've seen a slight improvement in hair regrowth but I've also experienced a lot of ingrown hairs but nothing I can't manage with exfoliation and tweezers (sterile of course!)

I will continue to use this device and hopefully by summer I'll have seen a massive reducing in hair growth on both my arms and legs. I'll keep you updated!

Review - 17 Miracle Matte foundation

I always wear mineral powder foundation now but when I was going for a girly night out the other week I thought I would try a liquid foundation again. I went into Boots with the intention of buying the new Maybelline dream foam foundation but it didn't have a very heavy finish so I decided it wasn't for me. I then wandered down the other make-up stands and I saw the new 17 Miracle Matte foundation and it drew me in!

The packaging states that it has a 'matte satin flawless finish' and 'all day shine control'. This sounded perfect for my combination skin. I find 17 foundations hard to colour match with my skin, but I settled with 'Fair' and when I tested it it did seem to live up to what it claimed so I bought it.

The next day I tried it out properly and wow I was impressed! My skin looked matte, shine free and this lasted all day which was amazing. I would highly recommend this for others to try out.

It is available from Boots and is priced at £5.99.

Review - Soap & Glory Clear Here moisturiser

Ahhh Soap & Glory, do they even do a bad product? It would seem not. So when I picked up their Clear Here moisturiser I hoped this wouldn't be their first.

Clear Here is designed for combination skin as it controls oil and it contains pore-shrink skin perfecting technology.

It is a light consistency which absorbs into the skin quickly and it's also non-greasy which is always a good thing! A little goes a long way but my skin felt perfectly hydrated and it was shine-free all day long.

If you have combination skin and haven't tried this then I'd say give it a go because I'm sure you'll be impressed with it.

It is available from Boots for £9 for a 50ml tube.

100 things I love - Part 4

Part one

Part two

Part three

31. Twitter

32. Teachers (was on channel 4 years ago)

33. Spring cleaning

34. Scotch eggs

35. Sausage sandwiches

 36. Lazy days

37. French Fancies

38. dinnerladies (BBC sitcom)

39. Book shops

40. Alan Carr

Review - Organix Brazilian keratin therapy flat iron spray

I've been wanting to try Organix haircare for a while now and when I ran out of flat iron spray this product caught my eye. It's the new Brazilian keratin flat iron spray that contains avocado oil and cocoa butter. 

I couldn't wait to try this out because I had high expectations of it and I wasn't left disappointed.

It smelt amazing and my hair was left feeling soft, smooth and hydrated. It recommends spraying it onto dry hair before straightening but I also spray it onto damp hair before blow drying as my hair is really wavy and needs all the straightening help it can get!

The only bad thing about this product is the bottle shape. It's quite hard to hold whilst spraying and I have to hold it with both hands to do this. But apart from this I really like this product.

A 177ml bottle is £6.99 but I got it as a part of a 2 for £8 deal at Boots. I would repurchase but only when an offer is running as it is slightly more expensive than I'd normally pay for a product like this.

Massive make-up haul

I recently had a massive haul of make up and cosmetic products so I've decided to put it all on one blog post and include swatches too. Oh by the way this post contains a lot of photos.

Boots

L'Oreal - Buy one get second half price

True Match minerals foundation - £14.99

Studio Secrets lip glow - £8.49 (or £4.24 with the offer)

Studio Secrets mattifying primer - £10.29

Studio Secrets lash primer - £10.29 (or £5.14 with the offer)

Soap & Glory It's About Prime eyeshadow primer - £8.00

Too Faced Lemon Drop Shadow Insurance - £16.50

Collection 2000 Cream Puff in Cotton Candy and Fairy Cake - £2.99 (2 for £5)

Maxfactor False Lash Effect mascara - £10.99

Maxfactor False Lash Effect Fusion mascara - £11.99

(Maxfactor was on 3 for 2 so I for a £10.99 mascara free)

Collection 2000 Cream Puff swatches Cotton Candy and Fairy Cake 

Maxfactor Max Effect nail polishes - £3.99 each (on 3 for 2)

Shades: Prussian Blue, Hot Pink and Purple Haze.

MUA

Love Heart collection

Lip Balms and nail polishes - £2 each

Nail polish colours are U R FAB and U ROK.

Swatches: Sweet Kiss, Sugar Lips and Kiss Me. 

Eye palette trio in Eden - £2.50

 Eye palettes - £4

Pretty Pastels, Glitterball and Starry Night

 Swatches: Pretty Pastels 

 Swatches: Glitterball

 Swatches: Starry Night

Sorry that the swatch photo's aren't very good, I took them at night and I couldn't get the light right.

So that was my haul and I think I have enough eyeshadow and mascara to last me a life time! March is going to be another spending ban month, oh but I have ordered a few things from Avon...oops!

Like always let me know if you've tried any of these and what you think and link me to your haul posts!

New Cherry Batiste dry shampoo

Ahhh Batiste, my desert island product! And believe it or not but they've done it again and come up with another gorgeous scent. This time it's cherry!

Cherry is a fun, fruity, cheeky scent which smells delicious! And it has come at the perfect time after the cold snap of weather to perk us all up and to look forward to spring and summer :-)

This retails at £2.99 for a 200ml can, which trust me lasts ages, and is available from Boots, Superdrug, Savers, Wilkos and supermarkets.

Review - The Balm Betty-Lou Manizer bronzer

A couple of weeks ago I was contacted by Find Me A Gift asking if I wanted to try one of their The Balm cosmetic products and the Betty-Lou Manizer bronzer instantly jumped out at me so I decided that was what I wanted to try.

The packaging is really quirky and fun and has a retro feel to it.

The bronzer is a compact with a mirror and you get 8.5g of product. The bronzer has a soft, silky texture and it applies easy. It has a slight shimmer to it but it can easily be used as either a cheek bronzer or an all over one.

When I first swatched this I noticed that it is really similar to Benefit's One Hot Minute bronzer (swatch below) but Betty-Lou Manizer is around £5 cheaper!

Have you tried any of The Balm's products before? If you want to try this one you can buy it from Find Me A Gift for £17.99 here.

Favourite products - Make-Up

Way back last year I started writing a few posts showing my favourite products but I didn't write one showing make-up so here it is.

W7 Africa highlighting powder - £2.99

This is a cheaper alternative to Too Faced's leopard highlighting powder and I use this several times a week.

Benefit Hervana - £23.50

This is Benefit's latest box of powder and it is a collection of 4 shades and leaves a matte finish. I've had this a couple of weeks and love it already!

Avon Smooth Minerals foundation - £10.50

One of mu favourite mineral foundations and it has a slight shimmer to it which gives a lovely glow.

Witch pressed powder - £4.99

I swear by this to alleviate any shine on the t-zone area and it has a nice smooth texture and isn't chalky like some other powders.

L'oreal Colour Appeal eyeshadow in Real Silver - £6.19

The first silver eyeshadow that was actually silver rather than grey. Long lasting and great pigmentation. I've been repurchasing this for years.

Maxfactor False Lash Effect mascara - £10.99

Bourjois Volume Clubbing mascara - £7.99

These are two of the best mascaras I've ever used. They give fantastic volume and length and lasts all day. I can't decide which one is my all time favourite.

17 Mirror Shine lipstick in Belle - £4.59

A gorgeous natural shade and a lovely creamy formulation that doesn't dry your lips out.

What are your favourite make-up products? Is there anything I should try that you can't live without?

Review - 17 Mirror Shine lipsticks

It isn't often that I try a product and then have to buy different shades of the same product but I simply love 17's Mirror Shine lipsticks.

So far I have (left - right): Belle (I have repurchased this shade), Sugar Daddy, Peace and Flirtini.

One of the reasons I love these is that they are quite sheer so the colours aren't as bright or dark as they look on the bullet so for someone quite pale like me I can buy a bright shade but it'll look quite subtle when on.

I do have my eye on Hollywood which is a red shade but forgot to have a look in Boots for it last time I was in.

Have you tried these? What did you think? Or is there another brand of lipstick you swear by?

Review - Original Source vanilla milk and raspberry shower cream

I saw this Original Source vanilla milk and raspberry shower creme on someones blog ages ago and I made it my mission to track it down because it sounded amazing!

It is a lovely creamy pink colour and oh my gosh it truly does smell amazing! Think of the most luxurious raspberry milkshake and then you're on the right tracks.

As it is a cream it is a slightly thicker consistency than a gel and in my opinion they are more luxurious.

All I can say is that when using it it is like having a shower in a milkshake and the aroma is amazing! It is mouthwatering actually. I could quite happily use this product everyday for the next year because it smells that good!

This is £2.20 for a 250ml bottle and it is also available as a handwash which is also priced at £2.20 for a 250ml bottle and they are available from most health and beauty retailers and supermarkets.

New Model's Own Spring Collection

Models Own have just released 5 new shades of nail polish for their Spring collection.

Colours are (left - right):

Edamame - a fresh shimmering green

Naked Shimmer - a glistening gold-tinted stark beige

Soda Pop Pink - a subtle pastel beige

Peaches and Cream - a light sherbet peach

Bare Beauty - a pretty, barely there beige

These are available for £5 each or buy all five for £18 on the Models Own website! 

My latest purchase....

Blackberry Bold 9900

♥

Review - Caudalie Vinexpert radiance day fluid

This Caudalie radiance day fluid came in one of my Feel Unique's Beauty Boxes and as I hadn't tried anything from this brand before I was quite excited to use it.

Being a fluid it is lighter than a cream so it suits my skin really well as creams can sometimes sit quite heavy on my face. It also contains SPF 10 which is ok for autumn, winter and spring but in the summer this wouldn't be my first choice of product as the SPF is quite low.

It has a nice clean scent which is slightly fruity but it's not overpowering. Even though it has a lighter formulation it moisturised my skin really well and didn't dry it out. It also left my face feeling lovely and soft and not tacky like others can.

I don't think I would buy the full sized product as I've used other products that work just as well that are cheaper. The full sized 30ml product is £30.60 and available from Feel Unique.

Review - Mitchell and Peach shower gel

In the first Jolie Box was a little sample bottle of a shower gel I was very excited about trying. It was from a brand I had never heard of before, Mitchell and Peach. The packaging is very reminiscent of Jo Malone  and I envisaged it would be scented with gorgeous floral essential oils.

All I can say is that after the all important sniff test I was left feeling quite disappointed. It had a slight hint of essential oils but not like I'd imagined.

Next I popped to the shower and things didn't get any better. It did foam up ok but it wasn't anything special. I get a better shower experience using low end shower products and considering the full sized 250ml product is priced at £20 I won't be buying it but if you want to try it it's available to buy online here.

A year of nail polish - January

One of my 2012 goals was to wear nail polish at least twice a month and I'm now going to do a monthly post to show what colours I've worn. Here are my nails from the past month:

2True - Shade 2

Revlon - Star



Rimmel - Rose Libertine
Bourjois - Not sure what shade

No 7 - Beanie
OPI - Gold shatter

Haul - Primark, Boots and a magazine freebie!

This is my first haul since my spending ban ended at the end of January

Primark

Rolling Stones t-shirt - £8

Ring set - £1.50

Fish charm - £1

Cherry Coke lip smacker - £1

Gift bag - £1.50

Vest top - £1.80

Boots

Organix Brazilian Kertain straightening spray - £6.99 (2 for £8, my mum got the conditioner)

Collection 2000 lipstick - £2.99

Benefit Hervana - £23.50

Benefit Bella Bamba - £23.50

Babyliss ponytail wrap - £5

17 Matte foundation - £4.99

17 metallic eyes pigment - £3.99

17 mirror shine lipstick in Peace - £4.59

17 blush and glow in Peached and Cream - £3.99

(17 is on 3 for 2 so I got the metallic eyes pigment free and I had a voucher for a free blush and glow too!)

The Range

Cards, glue, bows, sentiments and stickers

Free Soap & Glory mascara with Elle magazine

This is the full sized product worth £10 with Elle magazine which costs £3.90, bargain!