I wanted to a post on these goodies as they're some of my favourites! I know everyone loves the Hot Cloth Cleanser and I do too, but I prefer the L'oreal Micellar Solution I mentioned in a previous post as it is much quicker! That being said when I have the time I do use my Hot Cloth Cleanser too as it feels like I 'm pampering myself.
Anyway, this post is about Liz Earle's Skin Tonic, Skin Repair Moisturiser and Eyebright lotion.
After I've used one of my cleansers I apply my Liz Earle Skin Tonic to close my pores. I've always been a bit sceptical about toner wondering if it's good for my skin and if it contains alcohol I'm not really a fan but Liz Earle's is perfect for me as it doesn't contain alcohol and is full of natural ingredients! As well as toning and closing my pores it provides my face with much needed refreshment after cleansing as my skin always feels dry!
You can use this even when not doing your cleanse, tone, moisturise routine as it refreshes you face nicely which is lovely for summer weather. I have both the small spritzer bottle and also a full 200ml bottle, the reason being I find it nicer to apply by spraying as opposed to using cotton wool pads so by buying the small spritzer bottle it means i can fill this using the 200ml bottle (and it also makes it portable - great for your handbag or travelling). I don't ever want to use another toner after discovering this beauty! A 200ml bottle of this toner costs £13.25 and the small 30ml spritzer costs £5.50 both available from the Liz Earle site linked here or in some Boots stores or QVC. You can also buy a 200ml spritzer bottle if you just plan to use it at home and this costs £13.50.
After toning I use my Liz Earle Skin Repair moisturiser for dry/sensitive skin. As I've mentioned before I struggle to find good moisturisers for my dry skin and I bought the Superdrug Naturally Radiant range while I was waiting for my Liz Earle one to arrive. This moisturiser has to be my favourite though, not only because it instantly soothes my skin but also because I have noticed a change in my skin for the better since I started using it. My skin feels soft for hours after applying it and I wake up without feeling my face is dry. I still have ridiculously red cheeks but besides that my skin has become a lot nicer to look at and touch. I can't really comment on whether it has cleared my skin as my skin is pretty clear anyway, I only get 1 or 2 spots a month.
I bought the sample size to make sure I liked it before committing to buying the full size product and now that this is empty I'm desperate to buy a full size one (I may have to break my spending ban for this - skincare is important to me). If you fancy giving it a try you can buy the sample size which should last between 2-4 weeks depending how much you use when you moisturise but mine lasted a full 4 weeks! A 15ml tube costs £7.50, a 50ml tube costs £19.25 and a 50ml jar (if you prefer jars) also costs £19.25. You can find them available on the Liz Earle website linked here and it is also available in some Boots stores now an from QVC. Just make sure you buy the right one for your skin type!
Another thing I decided to try from Liz Earle is the Eyebright lotion.
As it says on the bottle it is supposed to refresh tired, puffy eyes either by sweeping over your eyelids or leaving two cotton wool pads over your eyes for 5-10 minutes. Whether this has refreshed my eyes is debatable as I have really dark circles underneath my eyes and that hasn't changed since using this, however it is lovely to apply in the morning or before bed as it does make you feel more refreshed and awake. A 50ml bottle of Eyebright costs £5.50 or you can also buy a 150ml bottle for £10.75. Both are available from the Liz Earle website as mentioned before linked here, some Boots stores and also from QVC.
Personally I couldn't live without the toner or moisturiser now, they have made such a difference to my skin and skincare routine. The Eyebright hasn't brought about a massive change to my eye area however it does refresh my eyes in the morning helping me to wake up quicker (I need help waking up, I get really moody when I'm tired).
Have you tried Liz Earle? Are you a fan too or were you disappointed? What are your skin care staples?
Amanda xx
Since my last post my little blog has his 3000 views! This made me super happy because as far as I'm concerned I write to myself on here and just hope people read and like it. Obviously some people are reading it if I've managed to hit 3000 views. So I just wanted to say thank you to you all for reading, it's really appreciated!
Amanda :) xx
I own a few MUA palettes and I decided to buy this one just over a month ago (roughly). I've been using it for my daytime make-up and when I went to London I took this with me in my make-up bag because it is nice and compact. Another reason I chose to take this is because I didn't want to take my Naked 2 palette by Urban Decay in case it got smashed and this MUA palette is supposed to be a dupe for the Naked 2 palette.
The palette contains a range of colours including creams, golds, browns and black. I own the Naked 2 palette and this really is a good dupe for that at a massive fraction of the cost. I still love my Naked 2 palette more but that's just because it is my favourite palette ever. If I couldn't afford my Naked 2 palette then this would be a must buy for me as it is almost identical! I'm still glad this is part of my make up kit anyway as it means I can save my Naked 2 palette for evening time/special occasions and use this on a day to day basis.
The eye shadows are really pigmented and pretty easy to blend to create smoky eyes. I don't use applicators as I prefer brushes and I'm quite happy that the powder is picked up easily by my brushes. I had a little bit of fallout as I applied the shadows but that can be fixed by doing my eye shadow first to prevent ruining your make-up.
The palette costs £4.00 and is available from Superdrug or the MUA website linked here and the MUA website has a 3 for 2 offer on everything on their site until 4th June so you could pick up a few others too! I'm really tempted by this but of course I'm on a spending ban (boo hoo) so I can't purchase any items!
MUA is definitely my favourite high street brand as I find their products to be of better quality than some others and also the price is significantly less which is always a bonus!
Have you given this palette a try yet? Which is your favourite MUA palette?
Amanda xx
I've decided to go on a spending ban with good reason for doing so. I want to do a course that will give me qualifications in make-up and allow me to pursue my dream of becoming a MUA. Therefore I definitely need to curb my spending and find a way to pay for this! So from now on I am not spending money on beauty products and I'm also reducing my food bills etc until I can pay for this course. Luckily I have lots of beauty items so I will be able to keep blogging! :)
Wish me luck!
Amanda xx
I thought I'd do my first proper post about the L'Oreal Skin Perfection 3 in 1 Micellar Solution. I've become a bit of a cleanse, tone, moisturise fanatic lately in a bid to get my skin in tip top condition. I have many cleansers including Simple, MAC etc. but I wanted to give this a try.
I haven't had the chance to try Bioderma (which this is supposed to be a dupe for) mostly because I don't know if I fancy paying extra for it to be imported etc. I realise it's coming to the UK (probably here by now) but I haven't come across it and for that reason I gave this a go.
I found it in my local Superdrug for £2.48 instead of £4.99 as it is half price at the moment!
(I did have two more pictures to upload but Blogger doesn't seem to let me upload photos lately. Awesome. If anyone can help on that I'd appreciate it)
So basically this is a clear solution as you can see, which dissolves makeup, unclogs pores, removes impurities and tones and soothes skin. I have been using this to cleanse and then using my Liz Earle toner and moisturiser afterwards. It really does clean make up off with ease, especially eye make up if you hold a cotton wool pad with this on in place for a few seconds and then sweep away. It leaves my skin feeling a little dried out but the toner soon sorts that out and the moisturiser too. I don't know if it's a coincidence but since including this in my regime I have noticed a small but significant difference in my skin as it seems to be a bit clearer (less blackheads on my nose especially).
It contains no alcohol and is suitable for sensitive skin making it an option for almost everyone! The only downside to this I would say is that in two weeks I have used just up to the top of the pink 'Skin Perfection' label. As it's not too expensive this is not too much of a problem for me but I bought a second whilst they are half price just so I don't run out and I get a bargain too.
I do want to give Bioderma a try when I can get my hands on it but for now I'm pretty content using this, so much so I have stopped using my MAC cleanser!
Have you given this a try? Or have you been lucky enough to try Bioderma (jealous)!
Amanda xx
Just a quick update! I haven't really been posting as my laptop is being a complete nightmare.
Before I went to London it died completely (wouldn't charge - thought it was a power jack problem). Anyway, my mum took it to be repaired and the guy said there were no problems with it, I just needed to charge it off a mains socket rather than an extension lead. I did this and it still didn't work so I've been borrowing laptops when and where I can to do posts and important day to day stuff.
FINALLY I have found the solution. My mum also has a HP laptop and her wire charges my laptop perfectly. I have ordered a new one and it is in the post now (hopefully it will work when it arrives). Until then I'll borrow my mum's wire as and when I can and do some posts. She doesn't need it just yet so after I've done this post I will do another beauty related one and then I hope to post again when I get this wire (if not before).
You just don't realise how much you rely on your laptop until it dies :(!
Thanks for reading while I've not been posting, I appreciate it a lot!
Amanda :) xx
Evening all! Sorry it's been just over a week since my last post but I had so many complications! As I mentioned I was going to London last week to celebrate my birthday with my boyfriend which was lovely. I spent my actual birthday shopping in the Westfield in White City and got lots of goodies! However, we didn't have an Internet connection at first as we were staying in our (soon to be) new flat. We're in the process of decorating it etc, so we finally got an Internet connection around Sunday. However, I didn't take my laptop and whenever I tried to use my boyfriend's to blog it decided it didn't like me. So I decided I'd wait til I got home and my laptop thankfully was fixed while I was away. So here I am today ready to blog after arriving home late last night.
I thought I'd do a quick post on my birthday goodies first, both what I received and what I bought at Westfield.
I celebrated with my parents on the Saturday before I left so they gave me their presents early:
I was lucky enough to receive £80 off them and all four feather effect nail varnishes by In Vogue. I also got a base coat to protect my nails from staining, something which happened with the Illamasqua varnish in Radium mentioned in this post. I also got three Essie varnishes which I was happy about.
I also received £100 off my nan, £30 off my grandad, £20 off my auntie and £20 off my uncle, so all in all a spoilt girl I'd say!
Off my lovely boyfriend I received these goodies:
I am so excited about the Real Techniques Core Collection but I was hoping for the Starter Set too but I can buy that with my money instead :). The Illamasqua Brush Roll is something I've wanted for ages and it comes with a lovely lip brush too. The mystery box has a Precision Ink in Glister inside, a Liquid Metal in Electrum and 2 mystery eyeshadows and nail varnishes.
These are the bits I picked up from Westfield which I was so excited about:
The yellow shade is Unicorn and if I'm honest I probably bought it more for the name than the actual colour.
The glitter shade is Nail Junkie.
The pale blue shade is Cinderella which I bought because of the name - massive Disney addict!
This final shade is called Love Nails.
I've been after these Inglot lip glosses for a while now and the only store in the UK is in the Westfield I went to so I took advantage of this and bought both!
I was going to add some other pictures to this post but Blogger doesn't seem to be letting me, I've been trying for hours!! I'll just list the other things I got instead which include an Essie top coat called Matte About You which I am totally in love with right now! I also stocked up on some MAC refills as I was running low on my Studio Sculpt foundation and my eyebrow pencil in Fling.
Anyway that sums up my lovely birthday week! I did manage to plan some posts and take pictures while there so although I haven't been blogging I do have lots prepared now for the next week or so!
Thanks for reading (if you're still bothering after my absence), I really do appreciate it!
Amanda xx
I am sooo sorry for the lack of posts, but I have four university essays due in over the next two weeks and it's my birthday on Wednesday. This means I'm going to London for a week or so on Tuesday evening so I kind of need to have the majority of my essays done by then which is what I've spent all week trying to do! I will try and blog whilst I'm in London on my boyfriend's laptop, I'm going to take my DSLR with me and I'm doing a beauty shop at Westfield White City on my actual birthday so I'll have plenty of products around me. I'm also doing a MUA course on Monday 29th April, it's nothing spectacular, but it's a step in the right direction anyway!
So, back to the main topic, this blog post will be on MUA's new Power Pouts. I bought these a few weeks ago off the MUA website before they came in to store because I wanted to make sure I had all six. I've now had the chance to use every colour more than once and I've totally fallen in love with them, they are like a cheaper version of the Clinique Chubby Stick and the Revlon Just Bitten! Kissable Balm Stain. I don't own a Clinique version but I do own a few of the Revlon ones so I can compare them to that and I honestly don't think there's much difference! They have a minty, fresh fragrance and they make your lips tingle. The application is super easy as it's like drawing with a large crayon. The fact they are a balm stain means I can get away with applying the product less as it stains my lips and it is less opaque than a normal lipstick, meaning it won't be too obvious if some comes away.
First up is Justify:
Justify is quite an orange colour that I would usually be too scared to approach, but as it's only a stain it's not as harsh as a lipstick so I've given this a few tries since I bought it. I'm still not totally convinced the colour suits me, however it is a lovely colour otherwise.
Next is Irreplaceable:
This shade is quite a bright pink when worn and it reminds me of Illamasqua Lipstick in the shade Immodest but this is easier to wear as it is more sheer. I love my Immodest lipstick and I love this product too but as with Justify I'm just not sure either of them suit me too well which is quite disappointing really.
The third one I bought was Runway:
This is more of a red colour as opposed to the orange shade of Justify, however I'd call it a coral colour as when you compare it to Crazy in Love (shown later) it clearly isn't as red. I think this will be a perfect colour to wear in the summer.
Next up is Rendezvous:
This one is my favourite as I find it the easiest one to wear. The packaging can be a little misleading as you may think you're getting a beige/nude colour when it actually turns out to be a rose/pink shade. That being said it is a beautiful colour and is one of my favourite lip products to wear now.
As mentioned earlier I also bought Crazy in Love:
This is the darkest shade in the set and I always seem to fall for the berry shades, I just can't help myself. This is lovely and is not to dark to be worn of a day or in the summer when I usually feel like wearing perkier colours. This is probably my favourite after Rendezvous.
Finally we have Broken Hearted:
A lovely pink shade perfect for summer, but it is quite bright so I'm not sure how often I will wear it (I think it looks silly on me but I'm probably being too critical).
I have swatched all six in natural light and with a flash to give you an idea of their colour:
These are an absolute steal at £3 each, they are so much cheaper than the Clinique version and even the Revlon version! You can buy them from the MUA website linked here and they are also now in Superdrug stores. You can own all six for slightly more than one Clinique Chubby stick alone and although I'm unsure of some of the colours there will be a perfect shade for everyone in the set. I tweeted MUA when I bought them and they asked me my favourite shades and although I do love them all, for me personally it has to be Rendezvous and Crazy in Love.
Have you tried these yet?
Amanda xx
More items from my haul in this post, this time the three e.l.f. lipsticks I bought.
The three I chose were Flirtatious, Nostalgic and Captivating. Although they are generally nice colours they looked a little different to the shades I was expecting. All three lipsticks have a creamy texture and give good coverage but I didn't find them very long lasting, however this just means you need to touch it up a bit more than usual. Also, after trying my new Velvetines I don't think anything will ever compare to them in terms of how long they last. I got all three from the e.l.f. website which I have linked here and they retail for £1.50 which is incredibly good value, however I got mine for 75p each with my 50% off code. If you consider the price then I think that are a bargain buy.
Flirtatious is a lovely pink colour that works well with my skin tone.
Nostalgic is a nude/peach colour which is my favourite shade of lipstick.
Captivating is more of an orange colour which doesn't really suit me very much however it would probably be a lovely shade for some people.
Above are swatches of them under natural light and below are swatches with a flash.
So, although they are not the longest lasting lipsticks I own, for £1.50 (or 75p in my case) they are a bargain and are certainly worth a try.
What are your favourite lipstick brands? Have you tried any e.l.f. lipsticks?
Amanda xx
