My Favourite Nude / Neutral Nail Varnishes

Hey girls!

Nude nails seem to be the 'next big thing' at the moment, and in my eyes it's a trend well worth falling for. They look effortlessly chic and sophisticated, compliment any skin tone, go with any outfit for any occasion and are the simplest way to make your nails look polished and perfectly manicured with the added bonus that they are a lot more forgiving when it comes to visible chips!

Nudes can come in a variety of shades and tones so I have picked out my top 6 to show to you all. There's an even mix of pink tones, brown tones (I'm gonna call it brown, if you want to called it 'coffee' or something like that then feel free), milky pales and slightly darker and more shimmery shade too. Chosen from a range of brands and a mixture of price ranges, hopefully there is something for everybody in this bundle!

Essie - 'Fiji' £7.99. When I was at the Essie stand in Boots trying to choose my first ever shade from them it was a toss up between Fiji and Ballet Slippers, two very similar shades, and by pure random choice I walked to the till with Fiji. Fiji is an 'off white' shade with the slightest hint of pink to it; almost like a white top that's been put in the wash with a red sock! It looks amazing next to deeply tanned skin and it the best way to rock 'almost white' nails without it being too trashy or intense because of the pinky hue to it.

Barry M - 'Lychee' £3.99. Ahhh, Barry M. Their reformulated nail paints to give a 'gel nail' finish are seriously impressive. At less than £4 a bottle I'm going to be stocking up on every colour they've got. One coat for full opacity, almost a week without chips and a high shine finish this is something that you need in your collection. Plus it is the 'perfect nude' shade as it's not too pink and not too yellow so in theory should suit everyone, right? Nude nails winner: Lychee.

Ciate - 'Cutie Pie' £9.00. I love this shade from Ciate as it is a really, really sheer 'barely there' pink tone that works as what I'd called more of a 'tinted clear nail varnish' rather than a colour. It's not one for everybody but if you don't like your nails to be fully naked but don't really like just wearing a clear top coat then this is a lovely alternative.

Ciate - 'Cookies and Cream' £9.00. Serious dupe alert with this and 'Lychee'! I had no idea how similar they were until I held the bottles next to each other. The shade is a little bit lighter and apart from the price tag that's the only difference that there really is! Ciate polishes last for days and days without chips, but then again so do the Barry M Gelly nails; it more or less just depends on whether you want to be a brand snob or not. If you like this shade you won't be losing anything by buying Lychee instead - just take your pick!

Models Own - 'Utopia' £5.00. Quite a well known polish from Models Own, 'Utopia' is a really, really pale lilac shade and looks lovely for a light wash of pinky colour over the nails. At just £5 for 14ml of good quality varnish Models Own are one of the best value brands and I'd always recommend them.

Models Own - 'Naked Shimmer' £5.00. This is a personal favourite of mine; not just in the nude nail stakes, but out of my whole collection of nail varnishes this one comes out on top. You can see me wearing it here and ahh it's just beautiful! It's a beige toned nude with a slight pink undertone and a gorgeous golden shimmer running through it to give it a little bit more dimension.

I hope that you all enjoyed this post and that you're enjoying nude nails too!

I would say that my personal favourite is 'Naked Shimmer', but if I was to recommend one to somebody wanting to try out their first nude nail varnish then I would say to go for 'Lychee' - only £3.99 too so you can't go wrong!

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Recent Beauty Buys

Unfortunately for me, my boyfriend happened to turn up whilst I was preparing this post and while I was balancing everything in this nice posed picture ready for the cover photo.. uh oh bad timing! I got a mini lecture about 'why have you been buying so much?' but honestly, it just looks a lot when you've put it all together in one place! I swear.. 

Plus some bits were freebies (read on to find out why), and there have been lots of great deals on, including the amazing Boots 3 for 2 offers and their £5 No7 vouchers - Yay! Also in my defense, what you may or may not know is that I successfully completely a February Spending Ban without one single tiny slip up! I was so proud of myself for managing to do this, and needless to say my first purchase for this haul was made on March 1st! This is 5 weeks of collective shopping all bundled into one place to share with you all and to make things a bit more manageable I've broken it down into sections: hair, nails, make up, skin care, bath & body and just one miscellaneous piece at the end that didn't belong anywhere else!

Hair

Batiste Dry Shampoo (Tropical)
Directions Semi-Permanent Hair Dye - Atlantic Blue
Tresemme Keratin Smooth Hair Mask

Dry shampoo is an essential purchase and in my next empties post I'll do you will see that there is at least 3 empty cans of dry shampoo in there so it was worth getting the jumbo size. If you follow me on Instagram you will be able to see from photo's here, here and here that I dyed the blonde ends of my hair blue with a semi-permanent dye from Directions. Anddd, finally a hair mask because.. I don't have enough already (haha such a joker), but I've been wanting to try this since it came out so I snapped it up while it was on a half price offer for £2-3 and I really love it, it works so well at giving my hair a nourishment boost and making it soft and smooth - it's a new favourite product. 

Nails

Bourjois '1 Second' Nail Varnish Remover

Rimmel Pro Nail Varnishes - Matte Finish and Super Wear Top Coat

Barry M 'Gelly Hi-Shine' Nail Varnishes - Lychee, Dragon and Pomegranate

Essie Nail Varnish - 'Fiji'
Topshop Nail Varnish - 'Marine Scene'

Woah, woah, woah.. nail varnish overload! I absolutely love the Bourjois '1 Second' Remover and I featured it in my March Favourites post, here. It has come in really handy at removing my nail varnish easily so that I can experiment with all of these new shades! I've been loving the matte nails trend at the moment so got myself one of Rimmel's matte top coats which is great quality and works really well. I think they only cost about £4 so it's well worth getting a bottle to have a play around with, and they had a '2 for £6' offer on all Rimmel Pro nail varnishes so I treated myself to an ultra shine top coat too. The new Barry M Gelly nails that everybody is loving: on a '2 for £6' deal in Superdrug I opted for a nude called 'Lychee' and a bright 'Barbie pink' called 'Dragon'. It turns out I should have tried them earlier after all because I am a woman in love so a few weeks later I returned and purchased 'Pomegranate'; a lovely berry red. My first ever Essie nail varnish was 'Fiji', a favourite of many bloggers and nude nail lovers. I like it, but I wasn't too crazy about the £8 pricetag, sorry Essie but I won't be rushing back for more of you! Last but not least, another Topshop nail varnish (my favourites) in the shade 'Marine Scene' which is a dark greeny blue shade and coincidentally matches my hair!

Make Up

Bourjois Rouge Edition Lipstick 'Shade #17'
Topshop Lipstick 'Firecracker'

Topshop Blush 'Prime Time'
Rimmel Scandaleyes Waterproof Khol Kajal '001 Black'

I'm not too make up crazy really, I'd rather splash my cash on some nice new nail varnishes (evident in the section above), or something to treat my hair too.. with the only exception being that I like a new lipstick every now and again. I got myself one of the new lipsticks from Bourjois in their 'Rouge Edition' line and I aaabsolutely love it, I featured it in my March Favourites because I cannot stop wearing it. I also got a lipstick from Topshop in the shade 'Firecracker' which is an amazing bold red/orange that I did a full post on here. I also thought I'd test the waters with a cream blush from Toppers in the shade 'Prime Time' - these are a 'cream to powder' formulation and I've not actually had chance to try this out yet. I also got one of the Scandaleyes eyeliners from Rimmel because I love my nude one and thought that a black would come in handy if I ever fancied a more dramatic eye make up look. Again, I've not tried this one out yet. 

Skincare

No7 Beautiful Skin Melting Gel Cleanser
Origins 'Modern Friction' Exfoliator
REN Pore Minimising Detox Mask

I've been trying to have a skincare overhaul recently in an attempt to make dramatic improvements to the condition of my skin; I want to be able to feel comfortable wearing no make up in the summer and on holiday! My skin also likes to make things hard for me being being a mixture of two extremes: really dry and really oily. With a £5.00 No7 voucher I got myself the No7 Melting Gel cleanser in an attempt to subdue my lust for the Clarins Melting Gel Cleanser. I've used this a couple of times and I just think that it's okay, I'm not blown away by it. I also received a mini facial from Origins at the beginning of March and was given some really good advice for my skin and what would work well for me. She told me that using my St Ives exfoliater every so often isn't enough for my skin and to prevent further blemishes I need to use a good quality exfoliater twice a week. Her amazing sales techniques left me walking away £31 lighter and with a tube of 'Modern Friction' in my bag. I do love it so a full review will follow soon. Also from my facial I bagged myself samples of: 'Clear Improvements' mask, 'Out of Trouble' mask, 'Perfect World' serum, and 'Gin Zing' eye cream - unfortunately I love them all and want them all. Sorry bank balance! Over the past month I've been trialing the REN Glycolactic Radiance Renewal mask and love it to pieces. I've heard equally amazing things about the Pore Minimising mask too so ordered myself one whilst Look Fantastic had 20% off REN. This only arrived yesterday so I've not had chance to use it yet - I will do a review if I like it though.

Bath and Body

Soap and Glory 'Sugar Crush' Body Wash
The Body Shop Body Butter - Raspberry

Okay, okay we're nearly finished. I reviewed the Sugar Crush in full here, and I also featured it in my 'March Favourites' post here, and my Weekend Pamper post here too so it is definitely a no regrets purchase and is well loved. However, I am sick of the sight of it on my blog now after it being in so many posts! Getting a body butter from The Body Shop for £4.50 instead of £13.00 is a crazy bargain! Nobody can turn that down. There was a special offer on a little while ago (I think it's still on now) for certain 'scents' of the body butters to be knocked down to just £5.00, and then with a Love Your Body card a further 10% discounted too. I love the body butters from The Body Shop and I'm building up quite a stash on them. They all smell super yummy, the raspberry one is no exception, and they do an amazing job at moisturising the skin. There's nothing better to complete a perfect pamper than with a layer of one of these!

Lush:

A little trip to Lush happened last week for some bath time treats. (It wasn't last week at all, you can see from the stickers I bought these on the 13th March!). Impressively, even with Lush's prices creeping up and up, all of these only came to £8.50 because the 'Catastrophe Cosmetic' Fresh Face Mask was a freebie after trading in 5 empty black pots. You can see my post on the recycling scheme here. While I was there I also got a 'You've Been Mangoed' Bath Melt and a 'Butter Ball' Bath Ballistic, both of which I haven't had chance to try yet. I have used the 'Fluffy Egg' Bath Ballistic from the Easter stock but I wasn't too impressed with it. Almost £3 and all it did was dye my water pink? It didn't create much of a fragrance (it is supposed to smell like candyfloss/bubblegum/Snow Fairy) but whatever mild fragrance it did create didn't linger for long; just a little bit of a let down!

Miscellaneous

Glamour Magazine | Freebie: Percy and Reed 'No Oil, Oil'

I didn't know where else to put this one, but I bought a Glamour magazine for a measly £2 at the train station the other week, giving myself some quality entertainment to pass the journey (I also feel like an empowered female as Glamour is extremely pro girl power) and I'm a sucker for a little freebie so enjoyed the added bonus of a Percy & Reed hair oil too. It's got a funny smell but it does make my hair lovely and soft, not bad for a freebie!

Phew, I'm definitely all shopped out now!

Have you been taking advantage of the '3 for 2' offers throughout Boots at the moment?

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Monthly Favourites | March

Hey girls, it's that time of the month again ...Favourites! I love doing favourite posts, I think they're my number one favourite type of post to do as I love sitting and thinking about what I've enjoyed using recently and what has stood out to me and deserves a little bit of extra limelight. Typically, my post this month contains a couple of bits from Soap and Glory (what can I say, I'm a woman obsessed!), and also unintentionally it also contains no less than three 'scrubs'; one for face, for body and one for lips. Well, a girl's gotta scrub!

Let's get started...

Sugar Crush Body Scrub and Sugar Crush Body Wash

These two go hand in hand; can't be having one without the other! I've done full reviews on both of these already which you will be able to find here: Scrub [link] and Wash [link], and if that's not enough loving for them I also featured them in yesterday's pamper post here. My two absolute favourite shower / bath products that smell amazing - sweet from the brown sugar with a hit of zest from the lime, mmm! Forever loving Soap and Glory.

St Ives Apricot Face Scrub

I've been underestimating how important a good quality exfoliator is in a skincare routine and have recently invested in the 'Modern Friction' exfoliator from Origins to replace this one. I still wanted to include the St Ives one in this post though because I've been using it for the best part of March and, for the price, it works exceptionally well and is a great product to have sitting in the back of a bathroom stash for those times when you just need a really good scrub up.

Clarins Beauty Flash Balm

My full review of this product can be found here and I've been loving using this as a base to my make-up as it creates a tightening effect over the skin that helps to blur out any imperfections, which is brilliant for someone with lots of yucky scars that are difficult to cover. It's a great primer and helps make up to apply more smoothly and last all day. It can also be used as a mask but I don't use it for that function very often. 

Alpha H Liquid Gold (sample)*

Earlier in the month I was lucky enough to receive a couple of sample products from Alpha H, including their infamous 'Liquid Gold' solution. Liquid Gold is a concentrated chemical formula that resurfaces the skin overnight. It works really well on blemishes and acne scarring; it basically gives you 'new skin' and takes effect after just one use! I'm all out of my sample now but it lasted a few weeks and made a noticable difference to my skin, an impressively noticable difference. So I am going to purchase a full size bottle of this and do a full review in the coming weeks - stay tuned!

Lush Bubblegum Lip Scrub

If you've not yet tried, or at least heard of, this product then I'm wondering where you've been hiding?! Everyone is loving these! A natural lip scrub from Lush that is made of more or less just castor sugar and jojoba oil with a little bit of flavouring, this is great for dry lips in the winter (it may as well still be winter at the moment) to buff away any dry skin, or for any lips at all to use as preparation for a matte lipstick to minimise any telltale imperfections that show up with matte lippies!

Bourjois Rouge Edition Lipstick Shade #17

Purchased on a bit of a whim when I was having a down day and wanted something new in my life I bought this lipstick from Bourjois' new line that seems to be on blogs everywhere at the moment, and if you would like to see another post with some more detail and more shades then I'd take a browse over to Beth's post here. Shade #17 (it doesn't have a name) is a really natural and wearable pink shade that is just perfect for everyday wear and has been my 'go to' since I bought it as it seems to go with everything. The block on the bottom shows the shade so it's easy to pick out what colour you're searching for if you own a large collection of lipsticks and the formula is really pigmented, creamy and long lasting.

Topshop 'Green Room' Nail Varnish

I'm a biig fan on Topshop's make-up line, in particular their nail varnishes. I think that the colour range is never ending, the packaging is adorable and the quality of the formula is pretty much unbeatable for the price. This lovely green shade was a present from my boyfriend and he chose well! This colour with a tan is aaabsolutely amazing! I've been wearing it on my toes for a few weeks and it just looks so pretty. Perfect summer colour! 

Bourjois 1 Second Nail Varnish Remover

This little bottle of wonder has been around for a while, it's nothing new, and most people fell in love with it and regarded it as a new 'essential' way back in summer 2012. I appear to be a little bit late to this party. I paint my nails about twice a week (or as soon as I've got more than just minor chips) and that removal process really does become a chore when it's that often. It's all a bit of a faff getting 10 bits of cotton wool, fluff sticking to everything, pouring out nail varnish remover, spilling it on your mum's new furniture (definitely did not happen..), and then individually rubbing at each finger. Even though I was skeptical at first, this little miracle worker really does save a lot of time and hassle. Unscrew the lid, stick finger in, twist, remove, finger all clean! It could not be simpler. £4.99 is quite a lot more expensive than your standard bottle of £1 remover, but I'm happy to pay that much extra because of the amount of time and effort that it saves. Plus it leaves your fingers with a scent of 'red berry' afterwards - it's yummy!

Thanks for reading! What have you been loving this month?

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* (c/o Cult Beauty Ltd.)

Chill Out and Pamper | Weekend Treat

Long weekend or no long weekend, Saturday's will always be my 'pamper day'. Whether it's preparation for a night out later that evening or just a general unwind from the week that's been, everyone needs that little bit of 'me time' to chill out and look after your body. I have so many products hoarded away that I'm spoilt for choice when it comes to what hair mask I'll slap on or what moisturiser I'll be treating my legs too, but here are my picks for this week's pamper:

HAIR:

When I'm going all out with my hair I have such a long winded way of doing things because I prefer to avoid washing my hair in the bath. Firstly I start by washing my hair over the side of the bath to shampoo and condition my hair and today I'll be using Redken Smooth Lock Shampoo and Conditioner as these are such a luxury duo and leave my hair feeling silky soft and smooth; as the name would suggest. After this I will towel dry my hair by squeezing out the excess water on the ends and apply a generous amount of the accompanying hair mask: Redken Smooth Lock Butter Silk and this just intensifies the conditioning effect. You can see my review of the whole range here.

BATH:

After I've combed through my hair with the Redken Butter Silk on then I will pop on an ever so flattering hair turban (£1 from Primark) - these are a bit more practical than just wrapping in a towel because they secure with a little button. This is because I want to leave the deep conditioning treatment on for quite a while so it's all wrapped up and bundled out of way on top of my head. Next, I'll run myself a red hot bath and a hot steamy bath would not be complete without a bath bomb from Lush! Seeing as though it's Easter weekend it seems appropriate to use something from the new Easter range: 'Fluffy Egg' Bath Ballistic. This fizzes away and leaves the water bright pink and smelling like candyfloss (it's the same scent as Snow Fairy).

BODY:

While soaking myself in hot pink water I'll take the opportunity to give my body a bit of a scrub up. The scents don't compliment the smell of the bath ballistic but I will be using Soap and Glory 'Sugar Crush' Body Wash and the matching 'Sugar Crush' Body Scrub on every last inch of my body until I am fully exfoliated and all of my dead skin has been buffed away (yum). While we're here, might as well give those legs a quick shave too.

Then, because I'm weird and anal I like to get out of the bath and then get into the shower to rinse my body clean and use fresh water to thoroughly wash out the Redken Butter Silk that's been sitting in my hair for at least 40 minutes now. Please someone else tell me they have a bath and then a shower straight afterwards? The water isn't clean! Baths are only good for soaking yourself and keeping warm and cosy, they're not really that hygienic. 

So, after I'm all squeaky clean and smelling like a mixture of lime and brown sugar from the Sugar Crush, a little bit like candy floss from the Fluffy Egg, all with a whiff of almond from the Smooth Lock it's time to dry off and continue to more pampering. I'll add a generous sized blob of Moroccan Oil into the mid lengths of my clean, towel dried hair, detangle using a wide tooth comb and then wrap it back up into that hair turban out of the way. 

MOISTURISING:

Just to throw some more fragrances into the mix, moisturiser of choice for today is: The Body Shop's Papaya Body Butter that nourishes like an absolute dream and smells amazing, just like a summer fruit salad! It would be sad to neglect my poor little feet, especially with summer, i.e. sandal season, just around the corner. We need to get them into tip top shape! I'll smother them in Soap and Glory 'Heel Genius' foot cream and then pop on a pair of socks while the cream absorbs into my feet.

FACE:

A pamper isn't a pamper without a face mask! I've recently been loving a couple of masks from REN, in particular their Radiance Renewal mask* with glycolactic acid that gives a gentle chemical exfoliation to renew the skins surface. It's an amazing mask and I'll be doing a full review very, very soon!

MANICURE:

Finally, to finish things off it's time for a fresh manicure! I'll remove my current nail varnish with Bourjois' 1 Second Remover pot, nourish my cuticles with Avoplex Nail & Cuticle Oil, use OPI's Nail Envy as a base and then apply one of my all time favourite colours: Topshop War Paint. A gorgeous bright coral/red. Seal the deal with a coat of Sally Hansen Insta-Dri Top Coat and voila - beautiful nails. These should be done all in 10 minutes which is perfect timing to rinse away the Radiance Renewal mask with a muslin cloth.

The result: Nourished hair that is as smooth as silk, a squeaky clean body that has been exfoliated, shaved, washed and soaked, before being coated in yummy body butter. Along with lovely soft feet, brightly polished fingers and skin with renewed radiance. Ah, heaven.

I hope I've inspired you to get the bath bombs out and pamper yourselves to the extreme!

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* (c/o Cult Beauty Ltd.)

Review: Soap and Glory 'Glad Hair Day' Range

I've mentioned these products before in passing and just said that I really like them, but I thought they deserved a little more praise now that I am formally obsessed with them. The 'Glad Hair Day' range from Soap and Glory consists of three products: shampoo, conditioner (regular), and intense conditioner. These 250ml tubes costs £5.50 a piece, and I bought mine on a '3 for 2' deal (Soap and Glory are great like that), meaning that I got the full set for £11 - not bad, not bad.

Oops, I made such a cock-up with the picture above: "Give your moody hair the heave-ho.." - It should say 'mane' Hannah, not 'hair'! Can't you read? Silly moose. Anyway, onto the Glad Hair Day shampoo. Since this has a 'no build up' formula it's supposed to give the hair amazing shine and be suitable to wash your hair with everyday. I don't wash my hair daily, but I have found this to be the perfect shampoo for what I can call 'everyday use', i.e. in my eyes this is for the washes where you don't want anything special; you don't want it super clarified and squeaking clean right down to the core, you don't want it super strengthened, smoothed or frizz free with an intense formulation, you just want it freshened up. Ideal for those times when I'm not going anywhere special and my hair doesn't need to look amazing; it's probably going to be thrown into a messy bun until the next time I wash it so I just want any excess oil shifting from my head (tehe, yummy). You might wonder why I love it then if it's nothing special? But it's the whole packaging with it's vintage style images and quirky slogans that easily please me, and then the amaazing fruity fragrance (heavily raspberry based) that fills the room and lingers on the hair makes it super yummy. A little blob goes a long way because it lathers up well and can keep my hair clean for around 4 days.

Now, I don't think much to the regular conditioner and don't think it's that great at all but that's probably because it's targeted towards finer hair types and I've got a big, thick frizzy mane that could never be described as fine. But if I use the intensive conditioner (aimed at those with thicker hair) with every wash then that becomes a bit too much and my hair can be overloaded. That's why it works ideal to have both of them and use them alternatively on each wash to create the right balance, and another way that I sometimes use them is a blob of the regular, a blob of the intensive and mix them both together in my hands before applying to my hair and that ends up working out perfectly! Soap and Glory needs to come up with a middle of the road formula.

The times when I use the intensive conditioner, though, is when my hair feels at its best and this is one that I know I will 100% use again and use as a weekly treatment for my hair as it leaves it in the smoothest and softest conditioner ever; not bad for a high street conditioner!

So, I may not have made this set sound all that special but the intensive conditioner is the absolutely star of the show with this range and the one that I would hands down recommend. If your hair is thicker or more damaged than mine then it may be suitable to use as a regular shampoo, but if your hair is like mine (or finer) then it makes a great occasional treatment to really work at smoothing and strengthening the hair!

Another win for Soap and Glory!

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♥

Topshop Lips | 'Firecracker'

It's no secret to anybody that I'm a fan of Topshop's make up line and if you have not tried anything from them yet then I urge you to, even if it's just a little pink nail varnish you pick up I assure you that you'll fall in love and keep going back for more! This is my fourth lipstick from Topshop and I bought it the other week after lusting after it for such a long time. Topshop's lipsticks cost £8.00 (but £7.20 if you have a student card), which makes them one of the higher priced lippie lines on the high street (although some from Revlon are now creeping up to this mark), but their quality is above and beyond their price tag and they can give Mac more than a run for their money. I'd rather have two Topshop lipsticks than one from Mac!

My shade of choice was Firecracker, and no, your eyes are not deceiving you - this is a bright orange lipstick. Bright orange. It looks a little bit red/orange in the photographs and also in the bullet when you see it in real life, but oh no no no this is just orange. There's no denying that it's a bold statement colour to be wearing, but if you want a splash of colour on your lips then why not go all out? There's no pictures of me wearing it because I'm a little camera shy, so I hope this picture will suffice:

That's a little bit of lovin' from me to you right there! Isn't the colour just amazing? The finish on Firecracker is 'Velvet' which means that it is smooth and creamy with about the same amount as shine / gloss that you would get from a balm. The pigmentation is far from compromised by the velvety formula though and just one sweep gives a medium coverage on the lips which is great if you want to wear this more subtley, or a couple more sweeps can easily build it up to the full works of full and opaque coverage. The wear time is pretty good too and lasts for a few hours but leaves a gentle stain of colour on the lips, although be careful when you apply it because I smudged this onto the skin around my mouth and struggled to get the orange stain off! Definitely just looked like a had coldsores or had been messy eating my spag bol!

It's not one for the faint hearted, but it is an amazing statement lip colour that makes a change from classic red and would look amazing on holiday and on hot summer days (that's hard to imagine when it's currently snowing!) because I can just picture it complimenting tanned skin incredibly well. Hurry up sunshine so I can get some more wear out of this beauty!

Is this a lip colour you think you'd be dabbling in when summer rolls around?

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Review: The Body Shop Seaweed Mattifying Day Cream

Hello boys and girls. Today's post is about a moisturiser that hasn't left my daily routine ever since the day that I bought it (ages and ages ago - it's lasting forever!), and it is an affordable God send product for anyone like me with skin that is slightly on the oily side; either all over or in patches. One of The Body Shop's best sellers, this mattifying day cream is from their seaweed line which has combination skin in mind as it is supposed to find a happy balance for dry and oily areas of skin.

This 50ml pot costs £10.00 full price, but it is also available in a smaller trial size 15ml pot for just £4.00, and The Body Shop constantly has offers running too; whether it's 3 for 2 across all skin care or 20% / 30% off the whole store, it's unlikely you'd ever be splashing out the full £10 for a tub of this, but even if you did, it's more than worth it!

Having skin that tends to increase in oiliness as the day goes on has always been a bit of a pesky situation with my face and I have never been able to find the right kind of moisturiser than would suit me and in particular my oil slick of a forehead (yeah, nice). For a long, long time I always used to skip the step of moisturising and just more or less never bothered about it but have since learnt the importance of proper skin care and now know that even oily skin needs to be well moisturised! If you have this problem, then let me introduce you to your solution..

A cream than can cleverly moisturise all of your dry patches, whilst also balancing and mattifying the oily patches to give a shine free finish on your face, all while being perfectly nourished and hydrated. Fancy little trick that. 

I'm not sure how clear it is from the image above but this moisturiser is a gel formula and is a little bit sticky in texture but is extremely lightweight upon the skin, feeling refreshing and soothing upon application, and sinks in nicely to reveal an appropriately matte finish upon the skin to be able to use as the perfect base for the day's make up. 

I've got funny skin; some days it's really oily, some days it's like the Sahara desert and sometimes it's a mixture of the two like a patchwork quilt which definitely makes for hard work finding a suitable skin care routine! This is the perfect moisturiser and base to use on the days when my skin is oily and is 'combination', but on those days when my skin seems more dry I opt for a more intensely nourishing moisturiser, also from The Body Shop, from the Vitamin E range.

If you have oily skin and struggle to find something to control your shine throughout the day,

or need a balancing moisturiser than won't allow your make-up to slip and slide,

then this is one product that's worth trying out!

If you're considering it, next time you pass The Body Shop be sure to pop in and grab yourself a small £4.00 tub to test out and see how you get along with it.

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Review: Palmers Cocoa Butter Natural Bronze Body Lotion

Everyone feels better with a tan don't they? Life just seems a little bit brighter when your skin looks like you've been hanging in the Bahamas for the past week instead of the reality of sitting in the office or your classroom. I'll always love having a tan but have found the process a bit of a faff to keep up regularly (I'm super lazy), so always stuck to instant for nights out (good old St Moriz) and then spend the rest of the week looking like Casper's little sister.

When it comes to gradual tanning lotions I have memories stapled in my mind of school days where the girls (myself included) used to coat their bodies in Dove Summer Glow and more often than not make a total hack job of it and be walking around with bright orange streaks down their legs getting progressively more prominent as the week went on - not a great look to be sporting really! 

I gave gradual tanners another chance when I picked up Palmer's Natural Bronze lotion while it was in a half price sale after Christmas (usual RRP is £5.35 from Boots: link). I love the Palmers regular cocoa butter body butter; it's the most nourishing and beautiful smelling product I've ever put on my body, so I was hoping that this would be the same except it would leave me looking golden and beautifully tanned. It does still smooth and nourish the skin and doesn't leave any tacky residue behind which I love, and also it comes with a pump dispenser - something that I'll always be a fan of (small things). The main difference though is that it most definitely does not smell beautiful. It is as far from sweet cocoa butter as you can possibly imagine! A lot of fake tans have that biscuit/beef crisps lingering kind of smell and this one is no different. I don't mind it and can happily live with it, but it's not a scent that my boyfriend can put up with! Oh dear. Looks like this is just one to use when he's not around then. So, if anyone knows of any good fragrance free tanners just like this one then let me know!

With the tan itself I have never had any problems with it being streaky/stripey/patchy/blotchy and it has always come out lovely and even all over and although it is pretty dark which shocked me for a 'gradual' tan, it still looks a natural shade and isn't orange. The lotion comes out of the bottle white and looks like any other moisturiser so it can be hard to tell where you have or haven't applied it yet but as long as you're careful with how you apply and make sure to rub it in well and blend it in carefully at your hands and feet (often my downfall is failing to blend at my hands), then you shouldn't have a problem. The tan takes a couple of hours to develop and fades away gradually and evenly with each shower. You can reapply every day or every other day to build this up to a deeper and darker tan, or because it comes out so dark with one use you could use it the night before a special occasion and be prepared to be asked where you've been on holiday!

Cheap and cheerful at just over a fiver and doubling up as both an everyday moisturiser and a natural tanner this is an amazing product that I'm sure I'll repurchase, providing I can get my boyfriend to put up with the smell!

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