New Mac Lipsticks - 'Lustering' & 'Vegas Volt'

Hi there! I just wanted to share with you all cheeky little purchase that I made last week and I am very glad that I did - no regrets at all in the decision to have £27 deducted from my bank account.

I ordered two Mac lipsticks: 'Lustering' which is a lustre finish (clue is in the name), and 'Vegas Volt' an amplified creme finish. The decision to buy Vegas Volt was heavily influence by the very beautiful Laura from Belles Boutique and her fairly recent instagram pictures and 'What I'm Wearing' blog posts featuring this shade. It's one of those that you see and instantly fall in love with and just know that you have to get it.

Lustering

I found Lustering to be an extremely wearable shade, it's a hot pink shade but also soft and sheer, and glossy too. In the past I have seen it to be described as 'Impassioned's little sister' (Impassioned is a bright, bright hot pink), and I would agree that Lustering is a more muted version. It feels super soft and moisturing on the lips, like you've just put a balm on instead of a lipstick. Overall, great for every day wear and a lovely shade.

Vegas Volt

Being an amplified finish this means that the colours are extremely pigmented, but they are also smooth and creamy - this one applies like an absolute dream and I think I am obsessed with it! I never thought I'd be one for an orange lip but I really do love this. It's not too orange, its more of a coral-y pink colour and would look beautiful on a bright, summers day. I've been finding the wear time pretty good, it lasted about 5 hours on a shopping trip at the weekend before I felt I had to reapply (in River Island changing rooms haha!). 

'Lustering'

'Vegas Volt'

Mac lipsticks retail for £13.50 £14.00.

Have you tried either of these shades? What's your favourite shade/finish?

xx.

Maybelline Dream Fresh 8-in-1 BB Cream | Review

Following, or 'liking', all sorts of random pages on Facebook does have its advantages. Most of the time my news feed is clogged up with spammy posts about things I couldn't care less about, but a few weeks back the Maybelline page caught my eye with giving away free samples of their new BB cream. All you had to do was follow a link to their website, enter in your details and they would send you out 3x1ml of their samples.

I don't use very much product when using BB cream or tinted moisturiser because they tend to be for the days I'm opting for super light coverage and a fresh face, so I can probably get 3 applications from 1 sachet, so they sent me enough for 9, maybe 10 uses of the BB cream - absoluuutely free. I think this is a very decent amount for a free sample and definitely gives you enough of a chance to decide whether or not you like the product and want to buy the full size. The only down side being that all of the samples were sent in the shade 'light', perfect for me as I have fair skin.. but maybe not so perfect for others. 

Garnier also gave away 3x1ml of their BB cream not so long ago too, and probably still are if you visit their website, but they actually also gave the option of choosing the shade that you wish to receive. I liked the Garnier BB cream ('Miracle Skin Perfector') sample so much that I actually went out and bought the full size of it (£9.99 for 50ml at Boots), so giving away these free samples does work! 

However, I wasn't so impressed with Maybelline's attempt (sorry Maybelline, I still love you though) and definitely will not be purchasing the full size bottle, nor using up my 2nd or 3rd sample sachets.

This BB cream makes 8 claims:

Creates a natural glow

Compliments skin tone

SPF30 UV Protection

Hydrates all day

Blurs imperfections

Oil-free, non-greasy

Looks visibly smooth.

Feels fresh

The main thing that I feel it is missing is any sort of coverage, which many other BB creams on the market do offer, even if it is just light coverage. This only claims to 'blur imperfections', and although I'm not sure how this little cream intended to blur my skin, all I know is that it didn't do a very good job of it. I wouldn't even really compare this a 'tinted moisturiser' because there's not much of a 'tint' to it when applied on the face, and I didn't feel much added moisture to my face either, so it really is just.. a cream? A sun protectant cream at best. The texture was very runny and applied a little streaky I feel, even though I tried applying with a) my fingers, b) a regular foundation brush, and c) a stippling brush, I struggled to achieve any sort of smooth finish with it, and even after applying powder on top of this it still looked a little oily after only an hour or so wear time - but maybe that's just my extra oily skin!

For some people this may suit their needs perfectly, this just definitely was not a BB cream I will be leaping out of my seat to put back on my face. I will stick to my Garnier one in future! 

Do you 'get' the BB cream hype? Have you tried either the Garnier or Maybelline ones?

What's your favourite BB cream?

xxx.

Revlon Lip Butters

A long, long time ago (OK, about a month ago), The Sunday Girl ran a give away on her blog (see the post here) giving her readers the chance to win one of five Revlon Lip Butters in the shade 'Sweet Tart' to celebrate Revlon Lip Butters' Sweet Boutique. This was one of the shades that was on my 'wish list' and all you had to do to be in with a chance with winning was leave a comment with your name and either your twitter handle or e-mail address for her to be able to get in touch. So with nothing to lose I left my comment and about a week later I had a message on twitter telling me I had won. How exciting!!

When I received my little parcel a few days later I just had to say 'aw' about the little powerpuff girls sticker on the package haha - just a little something extra, and I am extra thrilled with how lovely the shade is!
                                       


This is actually only my 3rd Lip Butter so I by no means have a large, or even medium sized, collection of shades, but I know that 'Berry Smoothie', the darker one of the three shown below is definitely my favourite one to wear. Its a lovely deep plummy pink but not so dark that it looks 'gothic'. 'Sugar Frosting' is the lighter shade (purchased from a Sunday Girl blog sale - blogger obsession alert!) and I do find it to be a bit too light for me, but is handy to put on over a bright lipstick to tone it down and gloss it up a little bit. 'Sweet Tart' is a fantastic bright girly colour and I have been loving wearing it on bright, sunny days (as rare as they are!).





I'm sorry that I don't have any swatches of the colours but I was struggling with the lighting to try and get the pictures to match the true shades, I ended up getting so frustrated that I just ended up going without.

Have you ever won a give away?

What do you think of the Revlon Lip Butters? Are they worth the hype?

What's your favourite shade?

xx.

SheSaid Beauty Box | July 2012

It feels like only two weeks ago I was writing about the June box from SheSaid Beauty, in fact, I'm positive it hasn't been a full month since the last box. Oh well, who's complaining?!

This was only my second box and again I was not disappointed, although I'm unsure if I was particularly thrilled either. Read on to find out why.

  

Miners Cosmetics - Bronzer and Blusher Blend

First up is just a simple, straight forward bronzer/blusher full size product which retails at £4.99. I received this in the shade 'Sun Blushed' and I'm unsure if there was any variation in shades throughout the boxes, but this claims to give 'a complimentary blend of bronze and pink that leaves skin with a gorgeous sun blushed glow' giving a rosy colour with a bronzed base. Sounds okay, yeah? It is a nice little compact product to be able to swirl together and give a flush of colour to the cheeks, but it by no means excited me and is nothing special - just ended up being thrown in a drawn amongst an array of other bronzer/blushers. Nice to get a full sized product though.

The Vintage Cosmetics Company - Vintage Eyelash Curler

Another full sized product which costs £7.00 and does exactly what it says on the tin: curls your eyelashes. They came packaged in a pretty little box and these are a product that I find handy to have, something I always use when applying falsies. My previous curlers were a cheapo pair that probably cost not much more that 99p so these will be a nice addition to my make-up tools and they are good quality.

Murad - Time Release Blemish Cleanser

When the SheSaid Beauty website released a 'sneak peek' of what could be available in the boxes, this Murad product caught my eye and I knew I'd be disappointed if it was not something I received in my box. I'm a huge fan of the Murad range, as pricey as it is, and I'm currently using their full Acne Solutions skincare range morning and night as I suffer with horrendous breakouts! *sad face*. This product is technically speaking an 'anti-aging' based blemish cleanser, so will target fine lines and wrinkles too, but it the blemish  fighting properties that I am interested in. I find this range incredible and would highly recommend it to anybody (problem skin or not), and SheSaid offers an exclusive discount of 33% on this product when using the code: SHESAID, so go try it out! It was full sized version received in the box of 30ml which costs £5.50, and larger 200ml bottles are also available for £29.00.

Stylefile - S-file

In case you wondered, this product was actually designed by The Apprentice winner Tom Pellereau, something that I found interesting as I am a huuge fan of The Apprentice. This is another full sized product and would cost you £4.49. Personally, I already own a nail file in this same 'S' style design so probably won't get much use out of this one, but they are fantastic! So much better and easier to use than a regular straight lined nail fine. If this wasn't something that I already owned then I'd be over the moon and discovering a product this good.

Freeze 24-7 - Ice Crystals Anti-Aging Prep & Polish

Another anti-aging based product ...I'm only 19!! I haven't had the opportunity to try this out at all yet, but the product came in a little sachet, probably enough for just the one use, which I don't think is enough to get a good idea of whether or not the product is suited for you. I am actually very excited to try this out, it sounds amazing: 'a powerful resurfacing cocktail that retextures and refinishes skin for a vibrant and fresh new glow' - Ooooo! Quite a pricey product though, would cost you £35.00 for a full sized 70g.

As an extra little bonus in the box there was also a Debenhams Beauty Club Reward Card to collect points online and in store. So, what do you think of the contents of this box? FOUR full sized products which add up to a total value of almost £22.00, making the £11.95 box good value for money, but are any of the products thrilling and ground breaking? Have any of them been good enough for me to buy them for myself again or in full size? Hmm, probably not!

If you're interested in subscribing to SheSaid Beauty Boxes then you could check out my review of their June Box here to see how great the products are, and click here to go to their website and subscribe.

xx.

The Body Shop | Haul

I haven't blogged for a full week because I've been a very poorly girl recently, off work and bed bound with a horrible sickness bug - bleughh!

But my week was brightened up a little bit when the postman landed at my door with a big box full of goodies from The Body Shop sale under his arm.

I had a little splurge on their website the other day after receiving countless promotional e-mails about their 'up to 50% off' sale and checked it out. There was nothing I particularly wanted or needed at the time from The Body Shop, so the products ordered were more of a 'see it, like the look of it, put it in basket'. Savvy. ;)     I haven't had the opportunity to try out any of these products yet as they only arrived on my doorstep this morning, but I will let you know how I get on along with them.

Find my instagram: Hannahripley1

The first thing I threw in the basket was the 250ml Cucumber Cleansing Milk for £4.00 £1.80. I've never tried any of the cleansing milks from The Body Shop before but I thought that £1.80 for a 250ml bottle was an offer too good to miss! It claims to 'feel as cool as a cucumber with a cleanser that refreshes and lightly moisturises'. Sounds good to me.

Item number two was the 250ml Passion Fruit Facial Cleansing Gel also for £4.00 £1.80 which I'm very excited to try out soon. 

 

Next up is the 100ml Vanilla Body Mist for £7.00 £3.15. I've had other scented versions of this product in the past but they've all been received as presents. The bottle is pretty small at only 100ml, so would I pay £7 for it? Hmm.. probably! I was looking for the Mango scent to compliment my Mango Beautifying Oil, but it was all out of stock so I settled with the Vanilla. 

Then I spotted the 60ml Wild Cherry Shower Gel for just £1.00. £1?!?!?! I don't know why I didn't get more! but I love this because I like to 'collect' products from the same range as I find the scents work even better when they're layered up and you use more than one of the products from the same range. The Wild Cherry Body Butter is my favourite and I also have the Wild Cherry Body Scrub and Lotions, so imagine how 'cherry-like' I will smell using all of these after using the Wild Cherry Shower Gel too - Mmmmm!

Wild Cherry Shower Gel

With its 'companion' - Puree Body Lotion

I also love these handy little 60ml bottles that the products come in that are a brilliant travel size. Super convenient for going on holiday or trips away when you don't want to take a huge big bottle away with you, and when you're finished with them remember to keep to bottles so you can decant other products into them too - genius!

Super convenient bottle sizes!!

A promotional offer that they were running at the time was if you spend a minimum of £5.00 you receive a FREE 250ml Earth Lovers Shower Gel in a scent of your choice. How nice? I opted for Watermelon & Eucalyptus because I thought it would be the freshest and nicest for the summer. Their promo offer at the moment is a free 60ml Pink Grapefruit Shower Gel instead. 

I'm one of those people who just does not like paying for P&P. Stingy, I know. But if there's an opportunity to get free delivery then I'll be opting for it, even if it takes a few days longer to arrive. The Body Shop only offers free delivery on orders over £25 and my little basket was at less £10, and with most products being in the sale for just a couple of pounds, then it was going to take a long time to fill up to £25 just for free postage, plus it would mean spending an extra £15 just to avoid the £2.99 postage cost. So I reluctantly just paid for postage. Tell me, is it just me who hates to pay for p&p - I'd love to know?!

Those of you who are up to scratch on your maths may have wondered how I bagged some products for less than 50% when it was an 'up to 50% off' sale, i.e. £3.15 instead of £7.00. Well, holders of an 'Love Your Body' Card are entitled to an extra 10% off everything, including sale items, so there you go, that's where the extra 35p discount came from. 'Love Your Body' Cards cost £5.00 but do give you 10% discount at all times on absolutely everything, and you receive a £5.00 voucher in your birthday month, plus get a free gift worth £5 after 4 instore purchases, and a gift worth £10 after 8 in store purchases. Worth the money? I'll let you decide.

Hope you enjoyed!

xxx.