Umberto Giannini Travel Size Products

I couple of weeks ago I was contacted and asked if I would like to review any of the Umberto Giannini mini travel sized products.

Of course, with all the Bank Holiday weekends we have had recently and with lots of summer trips coming up I said I would love to. Travel sized products are also a great idea for when I stay at my boyfriends house, they are easy to just throw in my bag, don't take up very much space and will last you through quite a few nights away from home.

I was sent three products:

Volumous Locks are well within your reach with Umberto Giannini Mini Voluptuous Body Shampoo. This uplifting and thickening shampoo promotes body and volume whilst giving hair movement and shine. Umberto Giannini Mini Voluptuous Body Shampoo is created with clever cationic polymers that build body into even the most lifeless hair with each shampoo. Umberto Giannini Mini Voluptuous Body Shampoo is ideal for holidays, handbags and regular travellers.

Use Umberto Giannini Mini Amazing Body Conditioner for all day long body and volume and a weightless bounce and shine.

Umberto Giannini Sleek and Chic Mini Blow Dry Cream leaves hair poker straight for that 'just stepped off the catwalk' look. The mini blow dry cream contains Vitamin B5 to give even the most brittle locks smooth and sleek control. Designed to straighten, the Umberto Giannini Sleek and Chic Collection offers cutting edge, up to the minute catwalk hair. All you need is a hairdryer, a round brush and Umberto Giannini's Sleek and Chic Mini Blow Dry Cream to achieve that salon straight, long lasting smooth finish.

The “mini’s” are 30ml to 50ml and are available in five ranges; Curl Friends, Dazzling Shine, Sleek and Chic, Beauty Secrets and Incredible Body.

They retail at £1.99 and are available at Boots or online at www.boots.com

Loves,

Poppy King for Boots No. 7

Last week I was sent a brand new lipgloss to review. The lipgloss in question is an exciting new collaboration between lip stick Queen Poppy King and Boots Number 7. The new range features 7 shades especially developed by Poppy King to celebrate the magic of lipstick: History, Power, Glamour, Seduction, Intrigue, Confidence and Allure.

Poppy King is an Australian entrepreneur. She is best known for her company Poppy Industries and the range of cosmetics available at Poppy Stores in Australia, during the 1990s. Poppy is renowned for creating a daring range of lip products born from her love affair with lipstick and designed to make every woman feel special.

"It was in danger of going the way of the Sony Walkman," Poppy King says of the fate of lipstick, the once essential cosmetic that's spent the last decade in the shadows of sparkly gloss. But with opaque shades of orange and fuchsia all the rage on the Fall runways, a bolder approach is back in favor, and who better to lead the charge than this Aussie native and former Estée Lauder executive? Now she's collaborated with No7 to create a gorgeous range of must-have lipsticks and glosses.

I received one of the lipglosses in number 5 "Intrigue" which is described as a "pinkish nude".

On Intrigue, Poppy says; "For over a century now women have been intrigued by the ritual art of dressing up their lips. For this look I designed a subtle pinkish nude that is incredibly flattering without being fussy. The right lip colour will light up your skin and hair giving you a stunning glow - Intrigue is the colour of natural lips, but bolder and brighter".

And here's what I say;;;

Although I feel this colour isn't best suited for my skin tone, there is no denying that the formula is highly pigmented, long lasting, non sticky and shiny.

All the shades in the collection are really wearable and it's nice to see a sensible brand such as No. 7 colaborating with such a quirky brand which is proven in the choice of packaging they have produced for the collection. It's colourful and fun.

All lipsticks and lipglosses are onsale now in Boots stores or online and retail at £12 and £11 respectively.

Disclosure: I was sent this free lipstick to review. All views and opinions expressed are my own.

Loves,

Umberto Giannini: 3 for £10 Haul

Umberto Giannini hair products are on offer at Boots for an amazing 3 for £10 so I popped in today to see what I could pick up. I knew I wanted a mask of some sort because my hair is really horrible and dry at the moment.

I got the Indulgent Beauty Moisture Mask, which retails at £5.61. It's a deep treatment for dry, damaged hair. It contains shea butters to replenish the hair. I also got the Grunge Glamour Tousled Salt Spray, which was also £5.61. I've been wanting to pick up a salt spray for a while now, and think it will be an easy alternative to using straighteners on my hair throughout the summer and whilst I am on holiday. And finally I picked up a heat protectant, which is self explainatory really and would have been £4.99 on it's own.

So the offer is worth checking out if you are looking to stock up on your hair products and saving a bit of money along the way!

If anyone would like reviews on any of these items omce I have given them a go, feel free to leave a comment below.

Loves,

Soap & Glory The Fab Pore Facial Peel

For some people it's dry, flaky skin, for others it's breakouts on their chin, and then there is oily T-zones, just a few of the problem areas we get on our faces. As well as having a few of the arforementioned problems now and again, I would say that the bain of my facial problem areas are my pores, it's something that I have constantly, unlike the other problems which may occur sporadically.

I have visible pores and clogged pores across both my cheeks and nose. Up until now I have been using Benefits the Porefessional on top of my foundation, which is brilliant by the way. It does hide my pores, but the problem lies when I put blush onto the apples of the cheeks. Even with the Porefessional underneath, the blush yet again brings attention to the problem area I had just concealed.

Easy answer? Don't wear blush. Yes, this is an option, but I like blush, I think it's fun and in the last six months I have really got into it. So if I can wear it, I will try.

When flicking through this weeks issue of Look Magazine last night one of their beauty features caught my eye.

"Brightening At-Home Facial Peels - Good to glow in seconds."

The "Look Recommends" product was Soap and Glory's The Fab Pore Facial Peel. It had been rated 5 out of 5 stars. And the description and mini review really interested me.

Blackheads gone after one use? I had to try this. At the reasonable price of £7.15, why not?

Today I popped down to Boots and picked it up.

Directions:

Rub a grape-sized dollop into your face and massage in circles until the green beads have all dissolved. (Those with a high tendency for clogging should concentrate on the t-zone, chin or areas with large open pores.) Leave on for five minutes for a quick refresher, or fifteen for a real deep-cleaning do-it-yourself kind of facial. Rinse well, and follow with moisturizer. Repeat 2 - 3 times weekly.

What's in this peel that works:

Fomes Officinalis Extract: A mushroom extract that helps tighten pores. Salicylic Acid: Which loosens up the dead cells that contribute to pore clogging. Kaolin: That's 'cosmetic' for clay. It sops up extra oil on your skin and smooths your skins surface. Vitamins E & C: Antioxidants. Just because you're oily doesn't mean you're not aging.

Soap and Glory The Fab Pore Facial Peel is available at Boots for£7.15 for 50g of product.

I am excited to try this product out, I think I will give it its first go tonight before bed, and will be posting an update and review once I've used it for a while.

Has anybody used this product? Or if not can you recommend any other pore minimising products I can try?

Loves,

Review: No. 7 Exquisite Curl Mascara

I was lucky enough to be sent the brand new Boots No. 7 Exquisite Curl Mascara over the weekend. I got my hands on it late Sunday night when I got home from a weekend away in Wales. It was beautifully packaged as below.

And once opened revealed the sleek lilac packaging.

(The curved wand)

What Boots say;

The aptly named Exquisite Curl Mascara has a curved brush, tailored to enhance curl and volume. The unique formula with curl-setting polymer helps keep lashes lifted throughout the day. The result? It curls lashes by up to 90 degrees. Eyes look more open and lashes extended from root to tip - get ready to va va voom!

Available in Black and Brown/Black.

What Lisa Eldridge, No. 7 make up artist and creative director says;

"This mascara gives a lift to the lashes for a wide open-eyed look. The bend in the brush helps to manipulate the lashes into place and get a good coating at the roots."

This is my eye without mascara before application;

And after application;

(This is two coats)

As you can see both my top and bottom lashes look super long.

I have used this mascara twice now and I have found that the wand really separates the lashes and makes them form a natural curve.

The mascara itself is not too "liquid-y", I have problems with mascara when the formula is quite runny, those being that because I have quite long lashes the tips rub under my eyebrows and leave black marks throughout the day. So far, I have not experienced this with Exquisite Curl Mascara.

I didn't find it to give me too much volume, but the fabulous lengthening and curve it gave my lashes make for a great flirty, girly day time look.

For evening I might choose to use this with a volumising mascara along with liquid eyeliner for a more dramatic effect.

The curved applicator wand is a winner allowing you to get right into the corners and I didn't experience any clumping at all.

You can purchase Exquisite Curl Mascara now at Boots or online at http://www.boots.com/ on its introductory offer of £10 until the 23rd February when it will go up to £13.

No. 7 is also on a 3 for 2 at the moment.

Loves,

One of those great little Primark Finds

You know every now and then Primark do an item that you just know will sell out of you don't buy it there ad then? Well today, I think I got one of those items.

I went in to return something, and once I'd stood in the Customer Services que for what seemed an eternity, why does every Primark take so long? I was walking out, when I walked past the shoes and spotted these babies.


They weren't there when I popped in on Monday after work, so must be new in, so after routing through several size 5's I finally found a 6 and tried them on. I heart them. The perfect mix of smart-casual with the worker boot style and heel combined. I adore the colour, and wear a lot of other colours from this family, they go great with browns, camels, beiges, creams, blacks.

The price? £18. When I saw the price I was a bit hesitant. Why is it in Primark when you see a pair of shoes over £12 you automatically think, "they're a bit pricey"?

I just hope they are going to be comfy.

What have you been buying in Primark recently?

Loves,

This Weeks Shopping...

Good evening Poppets!

As well as working all week and drinking copious amounts of Diet Coke in order to collect all for of these babies for free at Boots (Nails Inc Promotion, buy two bottles of Diet Coke and receive a free bottle of Nails Inc Polish, but you all know this already!)

L-R: Paris, London, New York, Milan

I did manage to do a bit of shopping today. So here are my treasures :)

Nude jelly ballerinas, £12.99

Plimsoles, £12.99

Straight leg light distresses jeans, £39.99

Lemon vest, £5.99/£6.99 (can't remember which!)

Kaftan, £21.99

Stripped scoop neck, £4

Straw clutch, £6

Pink corsage, £1.50

Nude platforms, £12

England shorts, £4 to sport on holiday as I'm there for the World Cup

Pandora-like bracelet, £10

Pinky nude slouchy bag, £32

I needed a new mascara, so I thought I would try out Colossal, as Maybelline was on a 3 for 2 and my Mum got a mascara and lippy too. I also wanted to try out the new Paris Hilton for Elegant Touch nails, blame my Mumsy for the choice (!) I asked her to choose between the red ones with glitzy tips, the white flower tips and these, obviously she picked these, but they are called the "super girly" ones and I suppose thats about right!

I hope you are all having a fab week, and that you enjoyed my haul. I'm off to tidy my room and have a bit of me time, as the boy is out playing footie tonight, I'm all shopped out and sleepie!

Loves,

Boots 17 Blush & Glow

Hello lovlies,

I hope everyone has had a nice weekend, this afternoon Jack and I went out to get some lunch in the nice weather and popped into Boots as he needed some hair gel, stupidly of him he went in through the make up aisle and the new 17 Blush & Glows caught my eye. I only use bronzers from the 17 range and a couple of nail polishes, but these were pretty and and were also on a three for two, so I got the two colours they had plus one of the regular blushes they do.

Top: Plum Puff

Left: Peaches & Cream

Right: Strawberry Swirl

Peaches & Cream

L-R: Mixed together, the blush, the highlight

Strawberry Swirl

L-R: the blush, the highlight, mixed together

Plum Puff

These blushes are £3.49 each, but on the 3 for 2 at the moment. And are pretty good value for the price because they are so highly pigmented and have a really creamy formulation. I've yet to try it on my face, but I imagine it'll be lovely. I'll probably use Blush and Glows as more as a highlight and the Plum Puff on my cheeks. Look out for a FOTD featuring these coming soon.

Loves,