Tuesday 22 February 2011

Umberto Giannini: 3 for £10 Haul

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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,

Our Valentines Weekender

I realise I am incredibly late with this post, and had decided that I just wasn't going to put it up, but then, I felt in a blogging mood, and thought, "what the heck I'll wack it up anyway".

As the heading of this post suggests I am talking about Valentines Day...well weekend in our case. On the Saturday night Jack had decided he was going to cook for me as we hadn't seen each other much that week, but it just so happened it did coinside with Valentines Weekend. Not that I minded this, it meant two celebrations.

So off we trotted to M&S to see what their "two can dine" offer had to, ummm offer. We had salmon to start, seabass for main and chocolate pud for afters as well, of course as their Valentines box of chocolates and bottle of Cava.

On Valentines Day itself, I made Valentines cupcakes and we had drinks and presents at mine, then headed off to our local Village for more drinks, and then finally dinner.

Here are a few snaps from our weekend.

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Loves,

Thursday 17 February 2011

Get The Look: Rihanna

Massivly excited that I managed to get tickets for Rihanna's added date to her Loud Tour in November at the O2 this week. A week that saw us being treated to a one woman show when she performed a the Brit Awards on Tuesday night. (Lucky I got the tickets before this event, as I'm sure after that, they will have all sold out.)

The pop singer who picked up the award for Best International Female first stepped out on to the red carpet in a blue, purple and yellow Christian Dior Haute Couture gown. Whilst performing her hits 'Only Girl in the World', 'S&M' and 'Whats My Name' there were three different costume changes consisting of a racy black number, a strapless, rose covered Oscar de la Renta gown and a red dress with floral detailing.

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How amazing does she look in the Oscar de la Renta gown?

Ceremonie des Brits Awards 2011. Salle de presse. Lib. SF

You too can look just at fabulous with some of the hot new spring/summer looks at Matalan at the moment. Their collection of florals will assure that whether you are going shopping and lunching or dinner and dancing, you can get Rihanna's red carpet look without the hefty price tag.

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All items are available from www.matalan.co.uk

Image courtsey of www.yellow-door.com

Loves,

Friday 11 February 2011

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.

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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.


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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,

Wednesday 9 February 2011

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,