Maybelline Review : Baby Lips in Cherry Me

Finally I  got myself some Baby Lips! Yes, as a lip balm lover it only felt right I jump on the bandwagon, though to be fair I'm sure I would have been lured in by the vibrant packaging and the fact the product is called 'Baby Lips'.  I decided to pick up 'Cherry Me' not resisting the 3 for 2 offer... I may have also picked up Peach Kiss and Pink Punch and took advantage of the deal as they are also such lovely tinted lip balms from the range. 

To give a quick overview of the new range from Maybelline, the collection consists of 6 Baby Lips Lip Balms all priced at £2.99. Three of which are clear balms with an SPF 20 and three are tinted lip balms. They all come with fruity scents as well. You can find them currently at Boots for 3 for 2 here or Superdrug 2 for £5 here.

As you can see Cherry Me is a sheer pink/rosy red tinted lip balm, though it can be built up quiet a bit more than in the above swatch where I was just wearing a swipe over my lips. Also as you can probably notice it does wash out lines in the lips making them look slightly more full, which for me is the 'baby lips' like element. I actually really like this aspect of the balm as most lip balms don't overly give that effect. The scent of this is also cherry which isn't overpowering, just subtle and juicy.

For hydration as these claim to give, I would agree to a point, the solid balm easily melts onto the lips on application and is very easy and comfortable to wear... though after an hour or so the balm totally wears off and my lips feel exactly the same. So they do smooth the lips to a point but would never 
replace a good moisturising lip balm... though I am yet to try the 'Intense Care' or 'Hydrate' ones, which aren't tinted but claim to really nourish the lips.

For £2.99 these are 100% worth it! If you haven't jumped on them yet I highly suggest you do! 

Bye

Maybelline Review : The Rocket Mascara Waterproof

This product is one of Maybelline’s newest additions to their mascara lines and comes in normal and waterproof. This is symbolised by colour but I will talk about that later.

This product is priced at £7.99 which I think is quite a good price for a drugstore mascara.

The mascara adds lots of volume whilst keeping the lashes relatively separated. I feel like this mascara works better on my bottom lashes than on my top lashes but I’m not sure whether that is simply because I have naturally long top lashes already.

The packaging for this product is very nice. I like the bold colour choices of the electric blue and the lighter blue. This is the colour scheme for the waterproof mascara (which is the one I have) however the normal version has the same electric blue with a shocking pink for the detailing. I really like the shape of this mascara as it fits very comfortably in the hand and when the lid with the brush is detached, the cone shape fits well between the fingers allowing a secure grip with lots of control when applying the mascara to the lashes.

The wand has a thick centre with lots of short and thin bristles that allows lots of product to be picked up on the brush and transferred onto the lashes causing a lot of volume but this can lead to clumps and also a lot of product being misplaced. I am not a fan of this brush as I feel it does hold too much product which can then transfer to the eyelashes which can then transfer to the areas around the eyes giving a slight ‘panda eye’ look.

Overall, I am happy with this mascara however I would say that it is not my favourite mascara. It adds a lot of mascara to the lashes and keeps them relatively separated but alot of the mascara can be left on the tips of the lashes.

Bye 

Lush Review : Cinders Bath Ballistic

This Bath Ballistic is alot smaller than your average bath bomb

This one looks really pretty & i picked this up because of the girl in the store had said it was her favourite Christmas bath ballistic and they only had about 7 left so I picked up 2.

When you smell this, is smells really christmassy, unlike So White which,is more of a summery scent. Lush describes it as a Spicy, Soda scented Ballistic.

Lush also claim that when you pop this in your bath, it fizzes and crackles as it has popping candy in it.

disappointingly, nothing was popping or crackling in my bath it just bobbed around my bath fizzing.

No snap, crackle or pop for me.

I can live without the noises if im honest, that wasn't why i bought it, i really love the cinnamon smell to it, and it really was a very powerful scent even after the Ballistic had fizzed away, also this retails for £1.95 :)

Overall, i think if you're after a nice, christmassy smelling bath product, this would be perfect. It did get me a more excited for christmas.

♥

Lush Review : So White Bath Ballistic

I'm going to kick off this review by saying this is my favourite lush Christmas scent & something i think they should use in their soaps & bubble bars.

The size of this Bath Ballistic is a large one it is about the size of the dragon's egg bath ballistic.
But it has a very powerful scent of apples & leaves a frothy layer on the top of the water.
There was a lot more froth than a normal bath ballistic would create, but sadly not as much as I was expecting from it.

The smell also lingered in the bathroom for a good while.
This Bath Ballistic retails for £1.75, which in my opinion is amazing!

By far one of my favourite Christmas Bath Ballistics & definitely my favourite lush Christmas scent..it's a lot different than the scents they have already created..it's just an apple smell, which i suppose Lush aren't really about.
I can safetly say that i will be stocking up on these, to get me through the rest of the year. :)

Please Lush, if you're reading this, make more products using this scent.
I will love you forever.
Thanks.
♥

Review: Pretty Little Liars Book #2

Back Cover Summary

Spencer stole her sister's boyfriend. Aria is brokenhearted over her English teacher. Emily likes her new friend Maya . . . as much more than a friend. Hanna's obsession with looking flawless is making her sick. But their most horrible secret yet is so scandalous that the truth would ruin them forever.

And why shouldn't I tell? They deserve to lose it all. With every crumpled note, wicked IM, and vindictive text message I send, I'll be taking these pretty little liars down. Trust me, I've got enough dirt to bury them alive.

-A

In continuation from the " Pretty Little Liars", Spencer Hastings, Hannah Marin, Aria Montgomery and Emily Fields continue to receive text messages from an unknown person, "A", and are more desperate than ever to discover the identity of "A", who is still taunting them with the threat of exposing their many secrets. At first the girls think "A" is Alison, because she is the only person who knew their secrets, but then they start to believe the person behind the threats is Toby, because some messages they receive refer to 'The Jenna Thing' and with Alison dead, he is the only other person who was a part of the incident, although everyone but Spencer is unaware of why he took the blame for what happened to Jenna. "The Jenna Thing" is revealed to be an incident in which Alison had set off a firework in Jenna Cavanaugh's brother Toby Cavanaugh's tree house to scare him, and Jenna had been blinded. 

"A" sends Emily a text message hinting that "A" knows about Emily and Maya's romantic relationship and 'A" leaves a note for Hanna that forces her to tell Naomi and Riley that she makes herself throw up and that Sean was the one who broke up with her. Later on, she receives a text that tells her Sean is at Foxy with another girl. Hanna is shocked to discover her former boyfriend Sean Ackard  ignoring his Virginity Club vows and nearly having sex with Aria. "A" continuously tells Aria to either 'get rid of the problem' or to tell her mom the truth about Byron, her father, that he is seeing another woman. Spencer continues to hook-up with her sister! Melisssa's now ex-boyfriend Wren and later loses her virginity to him. However, Melissa starts to hook-up with him as well and eventually makes sure that he will be out of both of their lives for good. Ella finds out that Bryon  is having an affair with a student named Meredith Gates and kicks him out, leaving Ella and Aria's mother-daughter relationship shattered. Emily blames herself for Toby's suicide. In this book it is revealed that Toby molested his stepsister when they were in middle school. Ali and Spencer were the only ones who knew about it until now......

Review : Herbal Essences Bee Strong Conditioner

For the past few days I have been using and loving the Bee Strong conditioner from Herbal Essences !

Honey is such a nourishing ingredient and here it's teamed with apricot extracts to protect and strengthen your hair. I noticed a difference to my dry, bleached ends after just one use - it felt noticeably silkier to the touch. 

For such an affordable range - prices start at just £1.89 for 200ml of conditioner - this products is also genuinely lovely to use. It smells divine, foams up really well and rinses out beautifully to leave my hair feeling glossy and smooth. I'll definitely be keeping an eye out for other products in this range.

Essie's Mint Candy Apple Nail Polish Review

I think mint green is the color of the month. It’s fresh, spring-like, and just plain fun. One of the easiest ways to use the color is by picking up Essie’s Mint Candy Apple nail polish. It’s a great shade and works perfectly to perk your nails right up.
The polish itself has a bit of the consistency of Tipp-Ex which doesn’t sound that appealing, but actually makes for painting on a good solid coat. It has a little chalkier texture than some of the other Essie shades but it goes on thick. Typically for me, I only need one colour to coat, but use two to perfect any lines or tiny spaces of the nail I missed the first time.

At £7 a bottle, it’s a good investment because you’ll be wearing the color all spring and summer long. Plus, this particular shade seems to dry pretty quickly as compared to others and it doesn’t smudge. I am not devoted to any one brand of nail polish but for this trendy color, I say Essie is the way to go.

Rimmel 60 Seconds Nail Polish Instyle Coral

I first saw this in boots in Wallingford  and thought it was the perfect coral nail polish! It leans more towards an orangey-coral, but still has an element of pink. It is however a lot less pink than some other coral nail polishes in the market. This shade has fast become one of my favourite shades for Spring/Summer! It dried super quick and only needed 2 coats. If you were in a rush, you could probably get away with just 1 coat as it was semi-opaque and only needed a thin layer on top to ensure full opacity. The wide brush is so handy, I can paint most of my nails with just 1 stroke, which is great for lazy people like me!

I'm definitely going to be trying more of this Rimmel 60 Seconds range. Do any of you have any recommendations for other colours to try? I think there's a lovely bright blue in the range?

xoxo, Erin

Vaseline Rosy Lips Review

"This", of course, is Vaseline’s 'Rosy Lips' petroleum jelly, which is basically Vaseline’s classic Lip Therapy tin, with one important difference: it makes your lips "rosy". Now, who doesn’t want rosy lips, I ask you? Raise your hand if you don’t want rosy lips. See? No one.

I'm a fan of Vaseline lip therapy anyway, and always have a tin. I've been using the "Aloe Vera" for years now, but I love this one even more. The jelly itself is scented with rose and almond oils, and the tint is perfect for creating that "English rose" look. It gives your lips a glossy wash of natural looking colour, which I love, and it can also be used to give subtle colour and glow to your eyelids and cheekbones.

I can tell this is something that is going to come with me everywhere from now on, if you want to buy some for yourself you can buy it for £1.99 from boots.

Nivea Lip Butters Review

Now originally, the reason I bought this was the smell! It smells devine and I just love it. If you like sweet scents you will love this scent.

This 'lip butter' has a thicker texture than Vaseline and feels more nourishing on my lips with a lasting feel. It pretty much does feel like thick butter on your lips, but tastier obviously!

The product is in a little tin, like Vaseline, which unfortunately likes to gather dust if you don't wash your hands right before you use it. Personally, I think I would prefer it in a twist-up variety but it hasn't stopped me using it lots!

I would recommend the Nivea Lip Butter's highly but haven't tried any other flavours, this one is too good!
Nivea Lip Butter's are available at Boots for £2.25

Review: Pretty Little Liars Book #1

Summary

Alison is perfect --- beautiful, witty, smart and popular. The girls want to be her, and the boys want to kiss her. Alison is a best friend, in more ways than one. But things are not always as they seem. Hanna is a nice person, just a little overweight. Steadily putting on the pounds since her parents divorced, Hanna is having her own time of coping with things. Emily is a swimmer, just like the rest of her family. Living the "blah" life, Emily is just blending in. Aria is different. Her likes and dislikes are borderline weird, at least to others. Aria just doesn't fit in. And Spencer has to deal with living in her sister's shadow. Sometimes, Spencer is just sick of the competition.

Things get really crazy when the girls have a sleepover at Spencer's and an argument gets out of hand. Alison disappears and they never hear from her again. Fast forward three years, and things have certainly changed. The remaining four girls don't even speak now. Aria's family moved away to Finland and just got back. Aria is used to hanging with older guys now and ends up wanting a relationship with her new teacher. Someone just bought Alison's old house with a teenager and bonds with Emily. The problem is, this new resident is helping Emily find out who she really is. Does Emily want to face the music? After many years, Hanna is no longer overweight and has a new set of friends and circumstances to deal with. Hanna finds out the hard way that wanting attention and being Barbie isn't all it's cracked up to be. Spencer is still living in her big sister's shadow but has her own agenda. It's not her fault that all her sister's boyfriends want her.

Soon, the creepiness begins. Someone is watching them all, with information on events that happened three years ago --- events that only each one of them knew...and Alison. But she's gone, right? Who else could twist their past and bring it into the future? Whoever it is, they know a little too much and are hell-bent on hurting them all, one way or another. As the girls are already spooked, things don't get any better when all their current secrets come tumbling out of the woodwork. Who's telling?

Review

Sara Shepard does an amazing job in this first installment of a four-book series. With mystery, intrigue and true-to-life characters, Shepard takes readers into a world of fake and fanciful spoiled brats. These are people who seemingly have it all, but when you delve a little deeper, they have just as many issues as the next kid. As PRETTY LITTLE LIARS expertly crafts just enough suspense to leave you waiting for the next book, one thing is for certain: high school will never be the same!

Hello 2013!

I would say that in a lot of situations, I am able to see the positive aspects but definitely not often enough. I will more than likely think of all the negatives of something before I even consider a more positive outcome. It's mostly reflected in the mood I am in. I need to stop finding things wrong with everything and start looking for all the great things in sticky situations and remember that it's not the be all and end all if things don't go as planned.

I remember that it was sometimes quite a struggle to drink enough water, but I managed to and that it made me feel so much better inside and out. I felt a lot more healthy, a lot more hydrated and my skin was also thankful. It's certainly not an easy thing for me to try and do as I'm naturally not a very thirsty person, it doesn't take me a lot of liquid before I feel like i'm going to burst from the inside out or wee myself. haha. I'm going to try and drink a lot more, whether I manage to complete a 2L bottle a day or just come close, it will be a vast improvement.

Be the best of you. This is one of my favourite quotes. I'm not sure where it comes from but I currently have this quote set as my desktop background. I like that it encourages you to be the very best you can be, surround yourself with people that bring out the best in you and don't be anything but yourself.

So those are my little personal challenges/goals I have decided to set myself. Some are working well already. I am going to really make the most of this year, and I hope you all do too. "Happily ever after starts here". :)

What sort of challenges and resolutions have you set yourself for 2013?

Are you hoping to look back over them in a year and have completed a good handful if not all of them?

Little Online Shopping Spree

It's not all that often that I will buy things from the comfort of my own home. It's not that I don't like online shopping, it's just that I tend to shop more on the High Street. However, come pay day, there were so many things I wanted to buy/try that I wasn't all that sure i'd be able to get hold of in the shops. I went onto the BHS website and bought the items below.

The first thing that accidentally hopped into my virtual basket was a beige and neon pink heart baggy jumper. I've heard such amazing things about this jumper, so of course, I had to give it a whirl and see what all the hype was about. The next thing that ended up in my basket, was a turquoise bikini with salmon pink flamingos all over, with ruffles on the edges. I absolutely love it, I think this will be really pretty in summer, the only problem was that it was too small for me, aswell as a royal blue ruffle bikini. The last thing I bought, was a pair of pink wedged sandals that were also too small for me so I am hoping to order, the wedged sandals and the bikinis again but in the next size up of corse. ;)

Messy Bun

Having long hair meant that the maintenance spent on it, can add up to quite a considerable amount of time. I loved having long hair (Then i decided to cut it, i had 10 inches cut off, i kind of regret it now) , but with long hair there were some days where i thought that i wanted to chop a lot of it off.    For days when i thought having long hair was a bit of a faff, I would sling it up in a messy bun. The bun is never the same each time I do it, but  i was always happy with how it turned out. It is quite difficult, but it's all just trial and error. Sling it up, use as many hair pins and hair bobbles as you like. It doesn't need to look perfect, and that's why it's one of my favourite go-to hair styles. I also really like now that its a bit shorter because you don't have to use up all your hair pins and hir bobbles and you can just use one hair bobble then your ready to walk out the door.

What's your favourite lazy-girl-quick hairstyle?

Xxx

Review: Montagne Jeunesse Face Masks

I have a love of face masks, and that I'm always looking for anything that helps my skin so I went back on my quest to find my perfect one. I do like Lush but I need something that doesn't cost a heap, that lasts longer ( you don't always have time to use a face mask once a week) so I though I'd try some new Montagne Jeunesse. I've used them before and they have always been good, I actual had no idea that there are 50 ! Yes 50 products they produce. 

They even have brand new lip balms, they have no petroleum jelly and most of them have olive oil in  which is great for your skin.  They not only have face masks, foot and leg, body, hair, skin tonic, men's and even a New ethic range (Two new ethnic variants developed specifically for dark complexions and skin types using natural ingredients) they also have eye and pore stripes ! Did you know this? I was shocked. So I now have a wish list as long as my arm, and will be clearing out the shelf of Montagne Jeunesse at Superdrug. These are the first two I have two more for later this week, I have combination skin (just to let you know) and it does say to do a skin test first, behind the ear is the best place. I've never had a problem I think if you have very sensitive skin than you should do the test patch before slapping all over your face. 

The on that I tried was damask rose. This one smells really pretty and the texture is creamy, so it was easy to smooth on. It was really strong and my skin felt a little tingy, it felt like it was sinking deep into my pores. It's the Marula oil that you feel at the start but than the soothing shea and coco butter left my skin feeling kissed. It was a bit messy to remove , and I preferred the other one as I don't have time. I used this in the morning,  so after my makeup went on after like a dream and calmed down my red spots. I also got asked what perfume I was wearing, than realised they were talking about my face (it's the rose). Great for Smoothing 7/10

Montagne Jeunesse do not test on animals and with the bottles you can recycle them (which gets a huge thumbs up from me) plus I love having 10 applications. Plus they have a 6 month shelf life.

Review: The Body Shop

Let me start by saying that i have been a huge fan of The Body Shop products since i was about 9. I was introduced to it by my School Friend, Bella who was a fan herself.

                                                                 

                                                                    Body Butters

                                                      

These are, in my opinion, the most famous product the Body Shop

have produced. Body butters are one of my absolute must haves. I think overall coconut & Cocoa Butter is my favourite.

They are rich in Shea & Cocoa Butter making them really hydrating to the skin.

I also think they work wonders on burnt skin as an aftersun treatment.

If you've been on holiday and you want to keep your tan lasting as long as you can, use a body butter because that works amazingly.

£12.20 (200ml - The larger size)

                                                                                                                                 Lip Butters

My favourite Body Shop scent/flavour is coconut.

The lip butters are just as amazing as the body butters.

I could seriously eat this. They contain Beeswax, Cocoa butter & vitamin E.

It feels like silk on your lips, and i actually found this scent/flavour to be alot more moisturising than a lot of other lip balms.

Again I would have to reccommend these lip butters to everyone I know.

£4.85

Review: Shell Lip Balm

I'm one of these girls, who must always have a lip balm everywhere I go. Lip balms, I think, are an absolute essential. Especially for me as I tend to always have dry lips during both winter and summer months. It's annoying, but nothing that a good lip balm won't sort out.

When I was looking for a knew lip balm saw one of these gorgeous shell lip balms handmade by the brand owner, I was extremely excited. Not only is it such a lovely, unique idea, but i saw how adorable they were! Each shell is individually sourced from the beach, and the lip balm itself is handmade from all the most beneficial and organic ingredients. The balm contains coconut oil, rosehip oil, beeswax, lanolin wax, jojoba oil, macadamia oil and mango seed butter. As well as containing everything that a good lip balm requires. It's not a lot of good having a gorgeous shiny shell balm sitting pretty on your dressing table, or being elegantly pulled from your handbag if it's not actually going to nourish or moisturize your lips. I think the scent and flavour of the balm is mostly unscented, although it probably does have that slight beeswaxy scent to it. I think it would be amazing if they branched out and offered various different flavours to choose from, as I personally would prefer something a little more fruity.

I think these shell lip balms are such a cute idea. Every girls needs a lip balm right, and why not a high quality one inside a naturally sourced shell WITH a mini mirror? If not for yourself, I think they'd make the perfect gift. There are 4 shell styles to choose from; Tiger crown, White frangipani, Mocha and Oriental fan, and they each cost £12.99 and are shipped in their own little grey drawstring bag. There is currently an offer on their website where you can buy 2 for £22, so that's one for you, and a present for someone else.

♥

Mmmmm...

Yesterday night me and my dad made lamb and potato curry, naan bread and popadoms. It was delicious, I wish that we could have it every night.

Yum :P