Review - L'Oreal gentle eye make-up remover

I find it hard to find a decent quality eye make up remover which isn't greasy or leaves residue so when L'Oreal brought out a new range of facial skincare products I really wanted to try their new eye make remover.

This is much more like a water than a solution and isn't greasy at all. I find that it removes my mascara really really well and doesn't leave any residue.

For £3.49 I think this is really affordable and as the quality is really good I have repurchased this already and would recommend it to anyone looking for a new eye make up remover product.

This is available from Boots, Superdrug and supermarkets.

Review - L'Oreal Preference Mousse Absolue Permanent Hair Colour

After using semi permanent hair dye for quite a while I decided I needed something that wouldn't fade quite as fast, as I am red this is quite hard to find as red fades so quick, so I decided maybe a permanent hair dye would solve my problem.

As my hair is long and thick one box of dye was struggling to give a good coverage on my hair so when I saw that L'Oreal had brought out a new reusable mousse dye I jumped at the chance to try it.  

I bought shade 465 which is dark burgundy red.

The dye is really easy to use. No mixing is required, you only have to clip the top on the dispenser, shake 20 times and off you go.

One thing I did notice was the strong smell of ammonia. In fact it was very strong but I always used to buy ammonia free dye so I'm not used to the smell.

I used one and a half boxes of the dye and as the dye can be saved to use for touch ups I think the rest will give me an ample amount to give a good root touch up when I get round to it.

The colour didn't come out as bright as it looks on the box, it was more brown with a hint of red but everyone seemed to comment on how nice the colour was so I guess it wasn't bad at all!

This dye is priced at £10.99 a box and is available from Boots, Superdrug and supermarkets.

Haul - York and Leeds Part 3

This is the last of my haul posts which included a few odd bits I've bought and some of my birthday presents.

Boots

Rimmel Match Perfection Foundation - £6.99

L'oreal nail care 7-in1 saviour - £5.99 

Barry M nail polish - £3.99

Barry M nail corrector pen - £4.99

All were on a buy one get one half price offer

Amazon

Butter London nail polish remover set - £15

Body Shop

Blusher brushes - £4.80 (were £8 in the sale but I had a money off code)

Savers

Nip & Fab cherry body butter - £2.99

No More White Bits Instant Tan - £2.99

Birthday Present Haul

Tops from H&M

Moomin PJ's from Primark

Guinea Pig clock from Achica

That's the last of my haul posts, hope you enjoyed reading them!

L'Oreal EverStrong and EverPure conditioners

As I ran out of conditioner I thought I would try L'Oreal's new Hair Expertise range. I got the EverStrong conditioner and the EverPure Intense Mask.

The range contains no sulphates but unfortunately it still contains parabens, I didn't realise this until after I started using the products.

I really liked both products, they both contain essential oils which smell lovely. My hair was left feeling lovely and soft and well conditioned. The mask was a little runnier than I normally like but it worked well.

I would buy these again but only if they were on offer as at £5.99 for the conditioner and £6.99 for the mask I find them slightly expensive for what they are. These are available from Boots and Superdrug.

L'Oreal Wild Ombres hair dye

I'm really late with this post as I used this product way back in December.

I thought I would dabble in the dip dye ombre hair scene but was a little apprehensive about it as I didn't want to have a hair disaster.

I like the fact that this kit comes with a brush which means it's dead easy to use. You just have to make sure you get the dye level on each side but with the help of a mirror this is easy to do.

The product was easy to mix up and application took no time at all. The product can be left on for between 25 and 45 minute depending on how light you want the ombre. I left mine on for 35 mins and when I rinsed it off it had gone a little gingery which I wasn't surprised at as I have quite dark brown hair so didn't expect a really blonde colour.

 I really liked the effect and have only just put a colour on top of it as I didn't want to go on holiday and end up with bright ginger hair that's been dyed by the sun (yes I speak from experience on this one!) 

There are 3 different shades available and they are priced £6.00 each and are available from high street chemists and supermarkets. 

Have you used this what did you think?

Haul - Next, Primark, Boots, Paperchase, New Look and more!

A few weeks ago I started my christmas shopping and of course I couldn't not buy a few things for myself so here is my haul!

Next

Bell heart decoration - £3.50

Faux fur hearts - £2.00

Floral heart - £3.50

Primark

Light up twigs - £3.00

Emergency phone charger - £3.00

Bun ring - £1.00

Combs - £1.00

PJ bottoms - £5.00 each

PJ top - £3.00

Debenhams

Floozie toiletry bag - £9.00 (half price)

Kim Kardashian mini perfume set - £19.99

Lush

Snow Fairy shower gel - £6.25

Paperchase

Paper tapes - £2.50

Diary - £4.50

London exercise book - £6.00

ASOS

Cath Kidston iPad case - £18.00 (was £30.00)

New Look

Shearling bag - £12.99

Boots

I'm not 100% sure of the prices of the Maybelline products

Maybelline Fit Me Foundation - £7.99

Maybelline Fit Me powder - £5.99

Maybelline Fit Me concealer - £5.99 (free as on 3 for 2)

Barry M Gelly Paint - £3.99

Collection 2000 concealer - £4.19

Barry M Glitter nail polish in Amethyst - £2.99 (free as on 3 for 2)

L'Oreal Wild Ombre hair dye - £6.99

Tresemme Texture Style spray

Tresemme Texture Style velvet creme - £5.50 each or 2 for £7.00

Philips Sonicare toothbrush - £76.00 (was £159.99)

Mark Hill Wicked Waver - £29.99 (was £59.99)

So that's my haul! Ok so most of the things on here are for me rather than for christmas presents but you've got to treat yourself every now and then!

L'Oreal Elvive Extraordinary Oil

A hair oil is a hair oil isn't it? Hmm well maybe not.

I bought this a couple of months ago mainly because the sleek, glass packaging drew me in as it looks very professional.

It is a little pricey at £9.99 for a 100ml bottle but as I normally buy John Freida's serum which is £6.19 for a 50ml bottle this works out quite good value and it should last ages as you only need 2-3 pumps.

Recently my hair had been feeling quite dry and neglected so I went on a mission to inject some moisture and I saw this sat on my shelf unopened so it was the perfect time to try it out.

I washed my hair and towel dried it before rubbing 3 pumps of this between my hands and rubbing in my hair. I blow dried it before straightening and my hair was left feeling amazing! It was so soft, silky and glossy looking and the oil didn't leave my hair looking greasy like some others can. I will be using this for the next week every time I wash my hair to get it back into good condition.

The oil also comes in a variety for coloured hair and if you were thinking of buying either bottle I would highly recommend you do as I'm sure you'll be impressed with the results too.

You can buy this from Boots.

Hauling!

Ok I know I said that I wasn't going to do any hauling for a while but as I need some work clothes for my new job I have been shopping!

New Look

Skinny jeans - £12 (was £19.99)

Jeggings - £12.99

Black trousers - £13 (was £22.99)

Cardigan - £7 (was £9.99)

Bird print top - £7 (was £16.99)

White vest - £1 (was £4)

Bird print skirt - £7 (was £14.99)

Black vest top - £5 (was £8.99)

All this for £64.99 instead of £110.93! Bargain!

Boots

Botanics Organic Rosewater Toner Spritz - £3.33 (was £4.99)

Soap & Glory Fab Pore Mask - £8

Finger nail clippers - £1.75

Rimmel lasting finish foundation - £6.99 (2 for £10)

Rimmel wake me up concealer - £5.99 (2 for £10)

Rimmel I Love Lasting Finish nail polish - £2.49 (2 for £4)

Remington Pearl Wand - £24.99

L'Oreal Lumi Magique concealer - £8.49 (buy 1 get 1 half price)

L'Oreal Glam Shine lip gloss - £7.69 (was £3.84 half price)

Home Bargains

The Beauty Parlour mattifying moisturiser - 99p

The Beauty Parlour mattifying papers - 99p

These both should have been about £4 each and are also sold in Superdrug

Ren

T-Zone balancing day fluid - £23.40 (was £26, I got 10% my first order)

Six of the Best - free (was £20)

Four mini samples - free!

Primark

Peep toe shoes - £8

Cotton wool pads - £1 per pack

Baby wipes - £1 for two packs

I have another haul coming soon as I shopped the Next sale but I haven't received everything yet so will post it when everything arrives.

Like always link me to your haul posts :-)

Birthday haul - York

On Monday me, my mum and our friend went to York for the day kind of as a day out for my birthday, which is on Friday. I did have quite a big list of stuff I wanted to buy but half of what I wanted I couldn't find and of course I ended up buying things that I didn't intend to! So what did I buy???

Cath Kidston

They had a sale with up to 30% off and I'd seen the Royal Stan print on their website and thought it was really cute but then I saw this little bag and had to buy it!

Royal Stan Box Bag - £16.00 (was £22.00)

Boots

I wanted some conditioner and as there is a 3 for 2 on holiday essentials I stocked up on hair products to keep me going.

L'Oreal Elvive serum - £9.99 (the bottle is huge though and will last ages)

Organix Moroccan Argan Oil conditioner - £6.99

Tresemme Keratin Smooth conditioner - £4 ish (was free on the 3 for 2 offer)

Batiste hint of colour dry shampoo - £3.99

Dove - £2.49 ish (one was free on the 3 for 2 offer)

Soap & Glory Peaches & Clean - £7.00

The Body Shop

Anita's Favourites Raspberry Ripple shower gel - £2 (was £4)

Like always link me to you latest haul posts!

Oh and have you noticed me blogs had a make over? Hope you all like it!

L'oreal anti-shine mattifying prime

At the moment I'm just loving make up primers. Currently in my make up collection I think I have 6 different ones on the go including L'Oreal's Studio Secrets Anti-Shine Mattifying Primer.

I use one pump of this to cover my whole face after I've applied moisturiser as a base for my make up. As it's name suggests it should leave your skin with no shine and looking pretty matte. 

I've been using this for about a month and a half now and I do quite like it. It does make my make up last all day but I wouldn't say my face was shine free. My chin and forehead still looked quite shiny but not in a really bad way! I think if you have normal skin and are going on a night out this might suit you just to keep any shine at bay. 

I would buy this again as I think it did ever so slightly improve the look of my skin but it did definitely make my make up last all day.

This is £10.29 and available from Boots and Superdrug. 

Battle of the....primers

A couple of years ago no one really bothered with make up primers but since then there has been a boom in products being released. The first primer I bought was the Studio Secrets smoothing resurfacing primer and the latest one I've bought is Bourjois Flower Perfection translucent smoothing primer. 

I can tell you're thinking why that is relevant but in fact these two products are so similar it's a little bit silly.

I've had the L'oreal primer since 2010 and it's taken me ages to use it because I simply wasn't impressed with it. Ok at first I have to admit I did like it but I hadn't used any other primers so had nothing to compare it to.

Both products look the same but the textures are slightly different. 

The L'oreal primer is more of a cream and even though it does sink into the skin quite quickly it does leave my skin feeling a little coated and I have to admit in the end I really hated using this product but not one to waste anything I persisted and used it up.

On the other hand, the Bourjois primer is more of a lightweight gel. It absorbs super quick, leaves your skin feeling like silk and my foundation went on really well over this. The only thing that I don't like it that it's in a pot rather than a pump but the product's consistency wouldn't suite a bottle so I'll forgive them for this!

Overall I would undoubtedly buy the Bourjois primer over the L'Oreal one any day. It simply suited my skin better but it is slightly more expensive at £9.99 for 7ml compared to £14.29 for a 15ml pot. 

If you want to try these then both of these are available at Boots or Superdrug.

Review - L'Oreal True Match Minerals Foundation

As you may probably all know I love mineral foundation. I've tried most brands but one that never appealed to me was L'Oreal True Match Minerals.

I think this one was one of the first on the market when mineral foundations were first coming to light and I remember it was reviewed on a TV programme and it didn't score very well. Maybe this is why I've always overlooked it.

Recently the True Match range has been given a bit of a face lift with new packaging and yes, even though the product is the same and it has the same crappy looking brush, I got sucked in by the new packaging. Ok the only thing that's changed on the packaging is the writing.

So yes you do get a mini kabuki brush with it and the foundation is underneath. And yes the brush is as crappy as it looks. The bristles are a little hard for my liking and they shed like mad.

The top to the foundation is attached to the brush so detaching the brush can be a bit messy as powder sticks to it.

The texture of the foundation is nice and it applies easily, even using the rubbish brush. The shade I got is a little too dark but with a little blending it does eventually blend to my skins natural colour but this is what it's supposed to do! It is True Match!

This is priced at £14.99 which is reasonable for a mineral foundation but I don't think I would buy it again as the packaging design isn't the best but if you want to try it you can buy it from Boots or Superdrug.

Review - L'Oreal Studio Secrets fibre lash primer

Has anyone else noticed that recently there has been a little bit of a boom in products being released that have in fact been out on the market years before? Well anyone remember the white lash fibre type products which were big about 6 years ago? Well L'Oreal have released one of these as a part of their Studio Secrets range.

I loved these products first time round, and yes I'm aware that there are still a few of these being sold now where you get the white primer and the mascara in one. My favourite product was by Bourjois and I was really sad when it then was discontiued but I never really looked for others until I stumbled upon this little beauty from L'Oreal.

You just get the white lash fibres, which act as false lashes to give maximum volume and length, as you can team it with your favourite mascara. The brush is the same as a normal mascara one and you just apply to your lashes before mascara.

(Left eye with the primer, right eye without) 

Once applied you wait for it to dry before applying your favourite mascara.

(Left eye with primer and mascara, right eye without)

You have to make sure you give a good coat of mascara as you don't want patches of white showing through!

(Both eyes with lash primer and mascara)

As you compare the photos I think you'll agree that the lash primer does add length and volume to lashes and then when mascara is applied you end up with amazing looking lashes!

The lash primer is available from Boots in the L'Oreal Studio Secrets range for £10.29.

Oh and I used Maxfactor False Lash Effect mascara and my eyeshadow is from the MUA Glitter Ball palette.