Nails: Ciate 'Speed Dial'

Still working my way through all those bottles of Ciate nail polish that I received in my Selfiridges Mini Mani Month advent calendar all those months ago ..Still. 24 new colours seemed like fun at the time, but now I just feel guilty because most of them haven't been used yet - slap my wrist and call me wasteful! But here is a shade that I picked out from the bunch yesterday and it looked very seasonally appropriate, so onto my finger tips it went.

It was a tricky one to photograph because it looks a slightly different shade depending on different lights and in some pictures it looked like a blood red, and in others looked a pastel coral shade. In true light I'd describe Speed Dial as a creamy combination of a burnt orange and a coral red. It's the perfect way to wear bright orange on the nails without it being too over the top and in your face like a lot of vibrant orange shades can be. Plus it puts a summer twist on the classic red nails by adding a creamy orange hint to the colour.

I found the application to be a little bit sheer at first and it did take three coats to reach full opacity, but it is worth noting that the dry time was extremely quick and I wasn't left sitting with tacky nails for any length of time. From past experience with Ciate polishes they can last a good 4-5 days without any chipping and the nice, wide brush provides easy and even application. 

If the shade takes your fancy I did happen to spot it in the Beauty Bay sale for a 20% saving of £7.20 / 13.5ml as opposed to the regular price of £9.00. (You're welcome!)

Thanks for reading!

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Voting is open for the Cosmopolitan Blog Awards 2013
Cosmetic Crave has been shortlisted for 'Best New Beauty Blog'

Spare a minute to vote for your favourite blog(s) here:
http://www.cosmopolitan.co.uk/blogs/cosmo-blog-awards-2013/cosmo-blog-awards-2013-shortlist-vote-here
♥

Real Techniques Brushes: Stippling Brush and Blush Brush

Ask anybody for recommendations of good quality, but reasonably priced make-up brushes and the first place that you will be directed is most likely to be Real Techniques. In fact, I am almost certain that you will be told to march yourself down to Boots, get yourself some Real Techniques brushes, and never look twice at another brand. And rightly so. They're fairly priced with individual brushes ranging from £6.99 - £11.99 (depending on the brush), they perform absolutely perfectly; giving a flawless and professional effect and they also last an absolute age! I have had my Core Collection (a great place to start for new make up brushes) for 10 months now and wash the buffing and contour brushes fortnightly and they still look, feel and perform as good as new. I love the fact that they don't shed either - nothing more annoying than finding little bristles scattered around your face while trying to do your make up!

If you're looking to extend your brush collection a little bit further then I have two suggestions here for you: Real Techniques Stippling Brush (£10.99) and Real Techniques Blush Brush (£9.99). The prices may vary by a couple of pounds depending on where you buy from, but the prices and links that I have provided are from Feel Unique - my favourite place to shop online for beauty products. 

Most of us know the basics with these brushes now: designed by one half of the Pixi Woo sisters (Sam Chapman), made with synthetic taklon bristles so that they don't suck up and absorb all of your product, wash like a dream, and have colour coded handles depending on which 'category' they belong to - Base, Finish and Eyes. As an extra, they have a flat bottom handle so that they're self-standing (not sure how much that would factor into your decision to buy these brushes, but it's a handy little extra), and they're just really lightweight, easy to use, fantastic quality and deserve all of the hype that they receive.

Stippling Brush
I find the stippling brush to work the best for use with cream or liquid products. It could be used to apply liquid foundation all over the face but the head of the brush is a little small for this to be done at any sort of speed - if you have all day feel free to use this for foundation because I have tried it and the finish was lovely. It looked smooth, flawless and almost airbrushed as there was no tell-tale brush marks or streaks. I much prefer this for dabbing into a cream blush and tapping across the tops of the cheek bones to give a very controlled hint of colour to the cheeks. The best function I have found for this is to use with a new found love in the form of a cream bronzer for contouring (for reference: ELF St Lucia cream duo - review to come); the brush head is small enough to offer precise and controlled application, but not so small that the end result doesn't look like an unnatural streak splashed across the face. Circling the flat top of the brush into the hollows of the cheeks effortlessly buffs the colour into the skin to look like a natural shadow.

Blush Brush
Of course there is nothing to say that you are confined to using each brush for the particular function that the brush is named for - I would never think to use a brush this size to apply blusher and I doubt that many would. The tapered shape and densely packed bristles of the brush are what appealed to me the most and I find myself using this most often for dusting powder products over my face - whether it is bronzer, highlighter or sometimes even setting powder, it doesn't matter which one I choose as it always works brilliantly for any type of powder product. The bristles are soooo soft and easily pick up a good amount of product and blends it beautifully. I love the way that this can be a multi-use brush to use however you wish and can range from a light dusting of highlighter, to the full works of contouring your entire face!

I'm looking to try out the RT Powder Brush next, and maybe the Expert Face Brush too. 

Do you have any recommendations for me?

Thanks for reading!

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Voting is open for the Cosmopolitan Blog Awards 2013
 Cosmetic Crave has been shortlisted for 'Best New Beauty Blog'

Spare a minute to vote for your favourite blog(s) here:
http://www.cosmopolitan.co.uk/blogs/cosmo-blog-awards-2013/cosmo-blog-awards-2013-shortlist-vote-here
♥

Topshop Cream Blush: Flush

Oops! Sorry to be a picture heavy with this one, I got carried away with how photogenic this little blush is. I just love these so much - they're only £6 each, your average cream blush price, but they're just so dinky and tiny in packaging and fit perfectly into the palm of a small hand. Adding to the adorable factor is Topshop make-up's trademark crayon design styled packaging - cream blushers identified by polka dots. But it's not just the sweet packaging and appearance that makes these worth trying out; the formula and function is top notch too. Super pigmented and only a little dab on the finger/brush required and then gently blended into the cheeks creates a gorgeous flush of natural, long lasting colour. These can be worn sheer or built up to a more intense colour pay off, depending on your make up preferences and the formula is soft, smooth and creamy to the touch, making it very easy to blend accurately onto the cheeks. Once settled it dries to a non chalky powder finish. The shade Flush is a tiny bit more a coral tone in comparison to another shade I have reviewed: Prime Time, which was a bright pink shade. Here are the two shades shown swatched next to each other and you can see that Flush is a little bit more subdued and a lighter, more natural shade:

Sorry for the bad picture but a lot of people complain that 'hand swatches' aren't good enough for showcasing a product, but here's the best that I could do with showing it on my face! 

Thanks for reading! Have you ever tried Topshop cream blushes? 

Also see:
Topshop Cream Blush: Prime Time

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Voting is open for Cosmopolitan Blog Awards 2013: Cosmetic Crave has been shortlisted for 'Best New Beauty Blog' (Ahhh!!). 

Spare a minute to vote for your favourite blog(s) here:
http://www.cosmopolitan.co.uk/blogs/cosmo-blog-awards-2013/cosmo-blog-awards-2013-shortlist-vote-here
♥

DIY: Lemon & Lime Body Scrub

It's only in the recent year or so that I've become a big, big fan of exfoliating. The reasoning behind why I didn't bother for 20 years but it's now my favourite bath time activity? - I honestly couldn't tell you. I don't know what triggered it, but the combination of sugar grains and moisturising oils on the legs, arms and rest of the bod to buff away dead skin cells is a step I just can't skip these days. 

Even better, here I have got a cheap and easy DIY receipe for a citrus sugar scrub!

You will need:

- 1 organic small lemon

- 1 organic small lime

- 1 cup of organic cane sugar

- 2 tbsp of organic coconut oil (this comes in a solid form)

- 1 tsp of peppermint oil (or extract)

I went out and purchased all of these ingredients at my local Booths supermarket, all organic and/or Fairtrade, and it all came to around £6. The coconut oil was the most expensive, but it will come in handy for future healthy cooking ideas and also as a hair treatment and body moisturiser - it's a great all rounder!

Extra bonus ingredients: 

- 1 tsp of food colouring (my preferred colour would've been yellow, but green was all I could find!)

- You could also grate some of the lemon and lime peel into your scrub too! 

4 simple steps:

- mix in a bowl your 'wet ingredients': the coconut oil, peppermint oil, colouring and the juices squeezed from the lemon and lime. 

- pour in the sugar and mix it up well.

- if you're adding citrus peels then stir them in now.

- find a clean, dry container and transfer your homemade scrub into it!

See, how simple and easy was that? You can also add any food colouring you like to change the colour of it, or you could also use no food colouring at all. These could also make an adorable gift if you're short on time, ideas or money - just pretty up a jar a little bit with a nice ribbon and some decorations and I'm sure it would put a smile on somebody's face! It makes for a great weekend activity with friends and it does actually feel amazing on the skin! 

Thank you to Eco Market for providing me with the basis for this recipe and I hope that some of you reading this try it too - be sure to leave me a comment or tweet me if you do it yourself!

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ELF Make Up Haul (50% Sale)

Want to know something a little weird? Look back to 1 year ago when I first started up my blog and look amongst my first couple of posts; there you will find my very first ELF haul ..and here we are exactly one year later with my 2nd ever ELF haul! 

E.L.F (eyes lips face) run promotions and deals all. the. time.! Literally, it seems like every day a new discount code is landing it's way into my inbox! Most of the time they have quite a high minimum spend, i.e. spend £25 and get 50% off, but when most products are priced £1.50 - £4.00 it can be a struggle to fill up the basket to reach the discount. Reading a post by Beth (Birds Words) on one of her recent ELF hauls left me itching to try out a couple of specific products (this haul has been heavily influenced by her purchases!), and I took the opportunity when another 50% discount code came along. (The code currently is currently running again now until Wednesday!).

Here's what I got for a total of £14.00:

 

Mineral Lipstick: Party Pink | £5.00 £2.50

Mineral Lipstick: Rich Raspberry | £5.00 £2.50

The formula of these lipsticks is really creamy, soft and smooth with a little bit of a glossy sheen to them. I was wary of the colour smearing all around my lips and ending up down my chin but thankfully it stayed put for a couple of hours before the colour gradually faded away. The packaging also looks very sleek and doesn't look or feel cheap at all - bonus! Party Pink is a lovely rose gold shade - a unique lipstick colour in my collection with a very subtle gold shimmer undertone, and Rich Raspberry is a very autumn appropriate rich berry shade that strikes a strong resemblance to a more pigmented version of the Revlon Lip Butter in Berry Smoothie - one of my favourites! I thought I'd make a change from my traditional fuchsia pink tones.

Blush: Candid Coral | £3.75 £1.88

Blush: Giddy Gold | £3.75 £1.88

Currently the world seems to be going crazy over different variants of cream blush, but my heart still lies in favour of powder blushers - I just find them easier to use and control, and longer lasting. Although these shades are noticeably lacking in pigment when compared to the cream alternatives discussed below, they're still not half bad for the price! The shades of these reflect their names well, with Candid Coral being a pinky coral - a very easy to wear day to day shade, and Giddy Gold being a ..you guessed it: gold. Giddy Gold is a little bit shimmer heavy, but it looks like it would make a perfect intense gold toned highlight when opting for an evening make up look.

Cream Blush & Bronze Palette: St. Lucia | £3.75 £1.88

Not one that I would've picked out myself, but Beth's swatches of this one swayed me heavily and it looks absolutely gorgeous. Cream bronzers aren't something I'm too familiar with but I have high hopes for this duo kit and look forward to giving it a trial. If I'm as impressed as I hope to be then look forward to a future full review. 

Eyebrow Kit: Dark £3.75 | £1.88

This a product that I love and have used daily for a year now, but my original one is looking a little bit worse for wear and is due to run out any day soon, so I have prepared myself with a handy little back up. There's no need to spend a fortune on brow kits; this one provides everything I need!

Bamboo Concealer Brush £3.00 | £1.50

I've tried an ELF studio line brush before and wasn't too impressed, but this one is from a different line and is one of their Bamboo brushes - cruelty free with recycled and eco friendly materials. The bristles are synthetic Taklon, the same material Real Techniques brushes are made from, although this brush is no where near as soft and smooth. It unfortunately feels quite harsh and scratchy, but I haven't given it a fair trial of using it to do my make-up yet. This is the only item that I'm not overly thrilled about.

What do you think of my picks?

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'Eau Thermale' - Avene or La Roche Posay?

Yay for garden pictures!

Handy refreshers in a can such as these seemed to be the most appropriate topic in the world to discuss during this extreme heat wave that the UK currently seems to be experiencing! Truth be told, unless I'm on holiday with a pool at the ready for me to cool off in, I'm not one in favour of high temperatures and humidity - I just get clammy and uncomfortable and I don't like the inevitable sweaty and shiny skin that you just can't seem to escape. I could continue and get started on the puffy eyes and sniffles that come with the hayfever and pollen allergies, but I'll leave my summer miseries at that and get onto the comparison of these two French products:

Avene and La Roche Posay are by no means the only two brands that produce variants of 'Eau Thermale', or in English: Thermal Spring Water, but they do seem to be the two leading brands and happen to be the two that I am in possession of. So what are they and what do they do? Looking at the ingredients lists, it would seem that La Roche Posay contains solely water. Yes, just water. And Avene consist of water, but also nitrogen as well. The difference that that would make? Well I'll be honest and state that I'm not sure. So you might wonder why you would buy a can of just water, but these have been filtered, softened and purified to make them naturally soothing, but as it is spring water (Not just any old water! This one comes from a spring!), it contains trace elements of Selenium which has antioxidant properties, making these water sprays fantastic for use on burnt or irritated skin.  

As the product is stored inside a compressed can it means that no matter how warm of a day it is, the water will always spray out cool in temperature and be very fresh. I don't tend to spray this on my face too much but the uses that I have found for them include: soothing insect bites on my legs, cooling sunburn on my shoulders, washing my hands when there was no other water available (yes, really!), and also as a general refresher when the humidity just got too much, targetting my chest, legs and feet to take my body temperature down a degree or two! One of these now has a firm place on my bedside for those evenings when it's just too hot to sleep - a quick cooling spray down my arms and across my chest makes things much more comfortable.

I'd have to say that there's not a whole lot of difference between the two of these and they are essentially the exact same thing, with the same function and virtually same ingredients. The price point is more or less equal too and the packaging is very similar. I simply have a preference to Avene because the mist is distributed slightly finer and lighter onto the skin. I would say that if you're looking to purchase one of these it would simply be a case of which one is more easily accessible to you, although they are both available online at sites such as Escentual.com, or the choice is up to you whether you want a white can with blue writing, or with peach writing!

Alternatively, if all you're after is something to keep handy to cool you down in the summer sun without paying for the extra purification from a fancy source, then you could simply opt for the thrifty option and find yourself a 99p spritzer bottle and fill it with tap water - I'm sure it would do a similar job of cooling you down!

Avene: £5.20/150ml | La Roche Posay: £5.60/150ml

One last thing, not to be cheeky but if you didn't know already the voting is now open for the Cosmopolitan Blog Awards 2013 and amazingly, Cosmetic Crave has been shortlisted for the category of Best New Beauty Blog! If you enjoy reading my blog I would feel honoured if you felt that I was worthy of your vote to  win - It would mean the world to me and only takes a few seconds of your time!

The voting form can be found here:
http://www.cosmopolitan.co.uk/blogs/cosmo-blog-awards-2013/cosmo-blog-awards-2013-shortlist-vote-here

Thanks for reading!

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Enter My Giveaway! Win: Nails Inc. and Benefit Goodies

Cosmopolitan Blog Awards 2013

If you're not a follower of me on Twitter then tonight's ever so exciting news may still be yet to reach your ears. However, the clue is in the title of this post. 

Yes, the Cosmopolitan Blog Awards 2013. I. Have. Been. Shortlisted. 

Please don't tell me that this is a dream!! I know that everybody says that they're shocked and surprised when something like this happens, but I really, honestly, truly got the best surprise of my life to see my blog's name sitting there. It made me really emotional for this to happen because I'm a very loyal and avid reader of Cosmopolitan and their annual feature of the Blog Awards is actually the whole reason that I became familiar with the existence of beauty blogs and started to read them. If it wasn't for Cosmo then there's a chance that I may not have submerged myself into this little world and have started up my own blog. And now here I am, nominated for my very own award. It's surreal!! 

Cosmetic Crave has been shortlisted as a contender for this year's Best New Beauty Blog. There are lots of other amazing blogs in that category, some of them my favourites, but I would like to ask that if you enjoy reading Cosmetic Crave you could spare a minute of your time and a couple of clicks to vote for me to win! You are of course under no obligation to do so; you don't need to vote at all or you could vote for one of the other 12 nominees instead, but it would make me extremely happy if you felt that I was worthy of your vote :)

Here is the link for voting and Best New Beauty Blog is the 2nd category. 

http://www.cosmopolitan.co.uk/blogs/cosmo-blog-awards-2013/cosmo-blog-awards-2013-shortlist-vote-here

I'm still overwhelmed that anybody actually sits and reads the words that I write and I'm incredibly grateful and so appreciative of every single person who visits this blogs and reads, comments and interacts with me. I'm absolutely stunned that enough people took the time to drop me a nomination vote for this award too, and so if you kindly did: THANK YOU!!!! 

If you vote for me you will be sent buckets of virtual hugs, kisses and bags of sweets!

(In a non-creepy way!)

Lots of Love!

Cosmetic Surgery Debate | Make Me, Fake Me?

'Plastic surgery', 'cosmetic surgery', 'cosmetic enhancement' ..whatever term you want to use for somebody going under the knife to change their appearance, it will always be a controversial topic. Some people are 100% dead set against it, but if they're happy in their own skin then they should be content with that and shouldn't have to worry about other people's decisions. 

I, personally, don't have a problem with anybody turning to surgery if that's the choice they want to make, and if my bank balance wasn't in the red then I'd be turning to needles and knives too. Seeing as I can't stretch to four figure sums to give myself: breasts a few cup sizes bigger; the white, straight and perfectly shaped teeth I long for; or the fresh, clear, scar-free skin that I deserve after years of severe acne, I can only have a mental wishlist of operations, procedures, or treatments that I would opt for should my bank balance allow it (fingers crossed I get rich!).

But, what I want to know is: where would you draw the line to what makes you 'fake' - terminology often used to describe people who have had 'work done' - and what doesn't? Is getting a breast augmentation in the same category as teeth whitening? Where is the boundary? 'Don't get a boob job', they might say, 'they look better 'natural'' - Okay, well then what about yellow, crooked teeth? Do they look better left as they are? And would it make you 'unnatural' to change them surgically? Maybe it's not a 'surgery' per se, but it's hardly an at home job or something herbal supplements will tackle. And shockingly, acne scarring removal/treatment is considered to be 'cosmetic' treatment (as opposed to a medical issue that can be paid for under the NHS), as the issue does not affect health and well being (I would strongly disagree) - but if this is the case, would you be able to distinguish between the use of a laser or chemicals to perfect the skin surface in that situation, from somebody getting, say, botox in their skin to reduce fine lines and wrinkles? 

If I underwent 'cosmetic dentistry' and had my teeth straightened, whitened and had veneers done - would my peers turn to calling me 'fake'? As I have no doubt they would do so if I opted for a silicone breast implantation. But then, what about the acne treatment that I want more than anything to help cure my dramatic complexion insecurities?

If you take a look at all of the terms that I have listed at the top of this page, do they call come under the same umbrella? I feel certain that most of you would place some differences between them, i.e. the ones 'necessary' versus the ones that are not, for example. But then, what are you deeming necessary? I don't like to smile in photographs because I have a wonky tooth that I'm insecure about - therefore I would feel happier with straighter teeth. And, although I am trying my best to embrace the pancake chest that I was born with, I don't feel comfortable wearing a bikini or certain clothing because I don't like the size of my breasts - therefore I would feel happier with a 'boob job'.

Take other people for an example, and not just me. Person A was once overweight, but then lost that weight and would like a tummy tuck to be able to feel better about their body. Person B has a large mole or birthmark on their leg and doesn't like people to see it and would prefer for it to be removed to be able to feel better about their body. Or alternatively: Person C isn't happy that she appears to look older than her actual age, and opts for botox for a younger appearance so she can feel happier in her appearance. Person D doesn't like the ice-pick acne scars left on her face and opts for a chemical skin peel so she can feel happier in her appearance. Are there certain people in these scenarios who you would judge for different procedures and for different reasons? Are you still going to deem some as 'necessary' and some as not, when the end result is always the same - the patient is more confident in their appearance, and as a result happier. Is being happy a debatable necessity?

Do you see my point?

Do you have any such views on these enhancements or adjustments?

I'd love to hear your thoughts.

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*This post was written by myself and is 100% my own views 

but it was sponsored by sk:n clinics.