origins plantscriptions anti-ageing concealer

When asked about their three "desert island" make up products, most people would list a concealer. And so would I! I'm not one of these full-coverage-foundation obsessives and I quite regularly enjoy base free days, just using a concealer to brighten up my eye area. I also really like how versatile concealer a can be. You can pick a flesh coloured version (similar to your skin tone or base of choice) for hiding dark circles and blemishes, use a slightly lighter shade to even out skin tone on your lids as a base / primer for your eyeshadow, or you can choose an even lighter shade to use as a highlight on the tops of your cheekbones and inner corner of your eye. See! Three great uses just off the top of my head!

Because of this, I feel it is quite important to find a really good concealer and not scrimp on quality. I'll let you get away with that for some products but not concealers! I've tried quite a few versions from different brands (Collection Lasting Perfection is a cult and I like the Maybelliene Fit Me Concealer, too) but I think I may have found my holy grail!

The Origins Plantsciptions Concealer is the cosmetic arch nemesis of those pesky under eye bags. I'm a big fan of the brands skincare so I had high expectations for their make up range! It is designed to be an anti-ageing product but that wasn't the reason for my purchase, I just find that to be an added bonus!

The soft, doe foot wand allows for smooth application without any tugging or pulling. I sweep this right under my eye from the inner corner, just above my cheek bone and finishing below the outer corner. I then either use the Real Techniques Contour Brush to blend or my ring finger to gently pat and melt the product into the skin. This method gives the most flawless yet natural under eye coverage I have ever managed to achieve. Even without powder this sets and stays for nine hours minimum on me during work days so no need for topping up at the office.

This concealer doesn't look cakey when applied or patchy throughout the day, and one of the main reasons I love this product is for how moisturising it is. Usually concealers tend to dry out my we area and leave it looking just plain nasty but this keeps my eyes looking fresh all day long. The key ingredient here is Anogeissus which is known for being a natural antimicrobial wound healer.

I have the shade 02 Light / Medium which matches my skin very well, but I would've gone for the lighter version if I hadn't have asked the counter girl beforehand. The only bad thing I can say about this is that the shade range isn't the most amazing I've come across, so make sure you head to an Origins counter and get yourself matched up before buying or you may end up a little disappointed.

Overall, amazing. This is the best concealer I've tried and I don't feel the need to try anything else for a long time! You can buy this at Boots for £17 which may make your eyes water (it did mine) but trust me, your peepers will thank you for it.

Have you tried anything from the Plantscriptions range?

Liv xox

the body shop pink grapefruit body mist

When it comes to scents, I tend to lean towards the more fruity / sweet end of the spectrum. If that isn't really your thing then I'm going to save you five minutes and suggest that you skip right onto the next post, because this one of the sweetest body mists I've ever tried!

I used to be obsessed with The Body Shop. I would fill up my loyalty card almost every month and was constantly trying to find discount coupons online that would enable me to get more for my buck. However, since discovering new brands and products I sort of forgot about my once beloved brand until I recently re-discovered it. I was walking past the store when I got a whiff of a super sickly sweet scent that I knew I just had to have! I asked the shop assistant and she told me that it was the Pink Grapefruit Body Mist that she had just spritzed for another customer. 

The scent is very sharp and fresh with a zingy grapefruit fragrance. However, I also find it quite light and easy to throw on without thinking about before I leave the house. Body mists can be used all over the body which I quite like as it makes me feel more fresh and clean, if that makes sense! The Body Shop claim that this contains some pink grapefruit extract which I think is a nice touch and adds to the citrus smell.

As expected, this doesn't last as well as a perfume but it easy enough to top up throughout the day. I like to use this on a morning as I find it to be very uplifting and awakening, but try layering it up with the Pink Grapefruit Shower Gel and Body Butter for all day fruitiness! Another tip I would add would be to try spritzing this mist on your bedlinen or in your pyjama / sock drawer to add a touch of scent and keep your fabrics smelling super lush!

Overall, I love this stuff and it's nearly all used up! It's £7.50 both online and in store, but as mentioned before there are always offers and deals on so make sure you do your research before spending! There's also a huge range of different scents if Pink Grapefruit isn't your thing!

What's your favourite Body Shop scent?

Liv xox

boots points beauty haul

Last Saturday, I took a little trip to my local Boots store and went on a mad beauty-induced rampage, swiping up a number of items on my "list" - you know, the one you write whilst watching your favourite beauty bloggers on YouTube - and plopping them into my overflowing basket. I was doing my usual thing of totting up the prices in my head so that I knew roughly how much the rather *ahem* grand total would be by the time I got to the checkout. However, during my transaction something magical happened and the sales assistant spoke my favourite 13 words, "did you know that you have enough Boots points to pay for this?"

So i waltzed out of the shop clutching my splitting carrier bag of products that i had just bought without even handing over a single penny! Ahh, Boots points. You are such a beauty.

Here is what I picked up!

Tresemme Platinum Strength Deep Conditioning Treatment

I heard about this product first of all from Lily (better known by her vowel-less online name: llymlrs) early last year I think. She was very impressed with this treatment and I trust her views completely as I have been reading her blog since it began! It retails for £5.69 which I thought was quite cheap for a nice 180ml tube of the stuff! It claims to "instantly repair and reinforce for beautifully strong and healthy-looking hair" which drew me in as I have quite dry and damaged locks *sad face.* I have used this twice already since I purchased it but I will be doing full reviews of most of these products so I shall save it for then!

L'Oreal Paris True Match Foundation

I had read a few reviews online about this foundation and many bloggers compared it to the coveted Giorgio Armani Luminous Silk, so I was quite keen to try it. It sells for £9.99 and I was very aware of just how many shades this was available in! Usually, drug store foundations only come in a handful of colours that are never really divided into yellow and pink toned skin but the range for the True Match Foundation was pretty good! I think there was about 20-22 shades which I felt was excellent!

L'Oreal Elvive Extraordinary Oil 

This had done the rounds (and then some) in the beauty blogging community! I'm a big fan of hair oils as I feel that they deliver so much moisture to your locks but also improve the texture, strength and health of your weak strands! For £9.99 you get 100ml in a lovely glass bottle which feels very luxurious and expensive!

L'Oreal Lumi Magique Primer 

I needed a good primer that was luminious without looking sweaty and this one seemed to be very popular with bloggers such as Estée (essiebutton) and Kate (gh0stparties). What struck me the most was that this was £9.99 for just a tiny 20ml tube which I will probably use up in around a month. I don't know if it's just me and my cheap ways but I feel that this is quite pricey for the amount that you get! Nevertheless, this was on L'Oreal's "buy-one-get-one-half-price" offer when I bought it so I got the True Match Foundation and this primer for around £15 which kind of softened the blow a little bit.

Soap & Glory Bright Here Bright Now Instant Radiance Energy Boost Balm 

This is another Kate-induced purchase (I swear that girl could sell me orange peel if she wanted to.) Retailing for around £12 this creamy balm claims to lift, energise, tighten and brighten the skin and work really well as a base. Two primers in one shop, am I feeling okay?

Boots Build Up Removal Shampoo

I have been wanting a sort of clarifying / build up removal shampoo for a while as I really like the idea of giving your hair a real deep clean once a week and ridding it of any product build up or grease. I noticed that most bloggers use quite expensive clarifying shampoos (such as the Bumble and Bumble Sunday Shampoo, £17) so I set out to find a cheaper alternative. Unfortunately I can't find this anywhere on the Boots website, but I know that I bought it for £3.49 so hopefully you can find it in store!

Expect some reviews coming in the next week or so and let me know if you have tried any of these products before!

Liv xox

rimmel lash accelerator endless

I go through mascaras like oxygen, seriously. It feels like I buy a new tube if the stuff, crack it open and before I know it it's turned into a flaky dry mess that marks the end of it's lash building life. This means that I'm always trying out new ones and looking for the next best thing. I've never been "brand loyal" when it comes to mascaras, and I don't really have a preference in terms of high end and drug store. I just want something that builds volume and holds a curl!

I picked up the Rimmel Lash Accelerator Endless in Black from Morrisons of all places! I was browsing for some cream for my boyfriend to use on his fresh tattoos, when I saw that the supermarket giant stocked cosmetics in the form of Rimmel, Maybelleine and Collection. What a nice surprise that was! How could I say no?

Now, let's just get it out there. The wand is plastic. Yes, I know that even that very sentence will offend some of you but I personally don't feel that all bristle brush wands are shamazing, and to be honest I quite like plastic brushes! It's very much a personal thing but I feel that they grip the lashes a lot better, and this is no exception!

 

I usually have to spend a bit of time applying two it three coats of mascara to get my desired flutter, but in the photos above and below I had applied one - yes, just one - coat and had managed to achieve length and curl! Nice!

I think this is very easy to apply and held up very well thought the working day until I removed it myself. Overall, I am very impressed with this mascara and will continue to enjoy using it! I'm not sure if every Morrisons stocks cosmetics, but this mascara is available on Boots and Superdrug for £7.99 but always check for offers as Rimmel do them quite a lot!

Have you tried this mascara before?

Liv xox

avon big colour eye pencil in cocoa gleam

Recently, I delved back into the world of Avon cosmetics and purchased a few bits that seemed to grab my attention! I had been looking for an eye shadow stick type product for a while but never really knew where to start, but the Big Colour Eye Pencil's looked pretty good in the brochure!

I ordered the shade Cocoa Gleam, a smooth chocolate / coffee hybrid shade with a shot of slivery shimmer running through it. The chunky pencil means that the product is easy to hold and use, and the shadow applies easily with a super creamy texture which means that you can apply it quite sheer or build it up and also smudge it out with your finger for a super quick smokey eye.

As you can see, the colour is absolutely stunning and works really well against my pale skin tone. I love how easily this is to use and apply, just run it over the lid and lower lash line then blend with fingers and bayum, done! The only thing that I feel could be improved is the longevity of the shadow. I wore this on a work day for around 12 hours and it lasted well for almost 7 hours before I began to notice some fading and a little creasing. However, I didn't have a primer underneath so I will try that soon and update!

Overall, good colour, super easy to use and very wearable. Excellent purchase if you can put up with some slight creasing that could be avoided with the use of a primer!

These are £6.00 each which I think is quite fair, and the good thing about Avon is that even if you don't have a local representative you can browse their range and order online here.

What do you think of the Big Colour Eye Pencils?

Liv xox

garnier micellar cleansing water

The latest micellar water to hit the isles of Boots is this offering from Garnier. As a brand, I find that Garnier are one of the best "drugstore" beauty providers out there! I just raved about their Beauty Oil just the other day, so it would appear that I'm going through a Garnier stage!

First of all, the packaging. Simple, allows you to see the product fully and is also easy to hold and handle with a cute little pink lid that you flip open to allow you to pour the water onto a cotton pad. I find that I can easily control how much product I want to pour out which is good, as sometimes I can end up completely soaking myself when brands don't concentrate on the design of the dispenser properly. 

I like to use this to remove my face make up as well as my eye make up. I find that it cleanses well without leaving my skin feeling stripped, greasy or sore. Garnier claim that this should "hydrate" as well, but I wouldn't say that exactly. It doesn't really nourish dry patches or anything of that nature but it also doesn't drain my skin of moisture. Instead, is gently lifts away my mascara and eye make up very quickly without the need to rub and scratch away at my skin!

Skin feels refreshed and clean, and the huge 400ml bottle is a lovely generous size. It is perfume and fragrance free so won't irritate your skin or cause nasty breakouts. Overall, I really like this product and if you wanted to try something like Bioderma or the Taaj Miceller Water then try this Garnier version first. In my opinion, they are all pretty similar and do the same job but this one you can pick up easily from your local Boots for just £4.99 which is crazy compared to the £20+ you might end up paying for the other two.

Have you tried this Micellar Cleansing Water yet? What did you think?

Liv xox

avon blusher brush

You may or may not know that I used to be an Avon Representative a few years ago! I think that was when I really fell in love with the whole beauty industry and my love affair with make up began! I loved getting new brochures every month and scanning through the glossy pages to see what they had to offer, and Sunday's at my Nannan & Grandads house was filled with food, drink and the scented Avon pages that you could rub your wrists on to get a real sense of what the fragrance was like! Ahh, memories.

Anyway! I ordered this sculpted Blusher Brush from my local Avon Rep a few days ago and it came super quickly a couple of days later! I'll be totally honest, the brushes I remember from Avon a few years ago weren't all that great. I found that the bristles weren't soft enough and they either picked up way too much product or no where near enough. So I was pleasantly surprised when this little gem landed on my door step!

I really like the slightly matte black finish to the handle which makes it looks very sophisticated and grown up, it is also custom designed to be slanted for better grip. It is also super light weight so is very comfortable to use and allows you better control over it, which shows just how much Avon have thought about how this brush with be used. However, what struck me the most about this brush was just how soft it is! The bristles are make of nylon and are seriously softer than any other face brush I have come across! They also claim to be "washable" but I haven't had the chance to wash mine yet, so I will report back on that later!

The sculpted bristles mean that this is perfect for adding a little bit of contour if you want to, but it also very easily allows you to just add a nice little flush to the apples of your cheeks with minimal effort which is great for mornings when you're still half asleep!

Overall, I am in love with this Blusher Brush. I think it will be great for both blusher and bronzer, as well as dabbing highlighted onto the high points! It picks up just enough product so that you don't end up looking like a clown and comes in at a reasonable £7.00 which I think isn't too bad! At the moment, it is on offer for £3.50. which is what I paid, and even if you don't have an Avon Rep nearby you can still order online through the Avon Shop!

Please bear in mind that this post is completely not sponsored by Avon, I do not work for them anymore and my opinions are always 100% my own and not at all biased.

Have you tried any tools from Avon recently? What do you think of them?

Liv xox

garnier ultimate beauty oil skin perfector

I have been lusting after a new body oil/moisturiser for months now. I used up all of my previous favourite from Sanctuary Spa, read my review here, and ever since I've been left with a nourishing-post-shower-moisturiser shaped hole in my heart. I really like the thought of using oils but find that most just take up too much effort to apply and I have to stand around waiting for hours waiting for it to dry.

The Garnier Ultimate Beauty Oil is a perfecting oil that claims to be five times more concentrated in nutrients than their regular body lotion, a big claim. The golden liquid has a lovely fragrance to it and is enriched with four precious oils: Argan, Macademia, Almond and Rose. I really like the fact that it comes in a spray bottle as it makes application much easier and a lot less messy than if it was in a pouring bottle. However, wash your hand in between switching spraying-hands as once the bottle gets a little oily is becomes incredibly difficult to use! Mine kept slipping all over the bathroom, oops!

I really like this body oil! It is easy to use and sinks in very quickly for this type of product, I usually find that body oils can leave my skin feeling greasy for a long time after application. My skin felt incredibly soft and looked significantly more illuminated than it did before. Any dry patches were smoothed over and nourished, and overall my skin just appeared a lot healthier!

Due to the ease of use, I would totally recommend this for lazy gals such as myself, but also to anyone who wants their skin to be moisturised as well as having that kick of radiance and smoothness. This usually retails for around £7.49 but is currently on offer for under a fiver at Boots online an in store! 

Have you tried this product before?

Liv xox

nivea lip butter in caramel cream

My mum bought me this a few weeks ago as she was finishing work, and I have been enjoying using it! There are three flavours available: Original, Caramel Cream and Raspberry.

First of all, this Caramel Cream version smells (and tastes, oops) absolutely delicious! Like freshly baked cookies or cakes mmm! The texture is nice too, it feels fairly thick and nourishing but not gloopy or greasy at all which is quite rare amongst the cheaper range of lip balms.

I find that this melts into the lips and smooths down any dry or flaky patches which I appreciated. The formula contains Almond Oil and Shea Butter which work to provide moisture and softness. However, like most lip products I don't feel that this has helped my lips in the long run. It feels and smells lovely, but in terms of bringing my lips back to full health, this did not deliver. In its defence, it never really claims to do this, I guess it is just my personal preference and perhaps this isn't the sort of product that I would go out and buy myself if I was looking for something for my lip problems. I do like to slick some of this on during the day as it gives a nice glossy finish that isn't too sticky.

Overall, if you're looking for a scrumptiously scented, easy to wear lip balm that makes your lips feel softer and look healthier whilst being worn, then this is great! But if, like me, you want your lip balm to heal and protect any dryness or soreness then I would seek a more medicated alternative. This retails for just £2.25 from Superdrug both online and in store.

Have you tried any of the Nivea Lip Butters before?

Liv xox

wilson

*hearts in eyes emoticon*

weekend breakfast

This weekend, whilst out shopping for accessories for my newly redecorated room, we "accidently" fell into Frankie & Benny's and might have ordered a cheeky little calorie-filled breakfast. It was slightly healthy though. Okay, it wasn't at all.

But it was so worth it. 

My mum ordered a sort of full English mash up whilst my Nannan had a toasted muffin with scrambled egg. I, on the other hand, went for a slightly more adventurous dish. A stack of three fluffy buttermilk pancakes, drizzled in a sweet and sticky syrup and topped off with a few rashers of tasty bacon. Oh my, it was one of the nicest breakfasts I have had in a long, long time! Who'd thought that bacon would go so well with syrup?!

What did you do this weekend?

Liv xox

dr. jart water fuse bb cream

 

I'm not a huge fan of thick, full coverage foundation or bases. I much prefer something quite light and airy but still fairly moisturising and perfecting. I've been loving the Bourjois Healthy Mix for a while now, but I found that my skin was starting to feel a little tighter and drier than usual and decided it was time to find a new face base (heh, rhymes.)

 

I've read a lot about BB creams over the past few months. Every brand and their dog seemed to bring out a new version every week or so, and I got a little bored of hearing about them. I then saw the range of Dr. Jart BB creams, and felt that these looked a lot more high quality than some of the other products I had seen in the aisles of Boots and Superdrug.

 

After looking through the range (there is a regenerating one with a strong coverage, a platinum one for skin aged 30+ and also a premium one which is an age fighting, glossy and low coverage base) I decided on the Water Fuse version as it sounded the best for my skin. You get 50ml of this product for £18, and it has an SPF of 25 which is really good and will help to protect your skin!

 

This is described "Asia's wonder beauty product" and is known for having "advanced water bead technology" which should help hydrate and maintain healthy moisture for a dewy, fresh look. I loved the description of it but as you can see from the photograph, this is a fairly thick cream which did scare me at first. However, once you begin applying this you realise that it is very light on the skin but also feels super moisturising as described.

 

The product oil-free and full of lush ingredients such as aloe barbadensis leaf juice to slow the loss of water from the skin and portulaca oleraceo extract to soothe and calm the skin and also anti-redness.

 

Enough of all the fancy-smancy talk though, what is the product actually like? I have one word: shamazing. I have never tried anything that minimizes pores as much as this thing does! My skin looks instantly smoother and more fresh. If it's coverage you're after, then this probably won't float your boat. But if you want a natural-looking base that still manages to even out skin tones and make skin look flawless then this is it!

 

I like to add this to my face and blend in with my hands and a buffing brush for a perfect application, then just dab some concealer on any other problem areas that need more coverage. I hope the photos below do this product justice!

((Left: bare skin --- Right: Dr. Jart Water Fuse BB Cream))

 

As you can see, my skin isn't exactly covered but it looks so much more bright, smooth and radiant with this product. Pores are virtually invisible and my skin just looks amazing but still natural!

 

I guess the only negative thing about this product is that it only comes in one shade, so if you're much paler or darker than the colour above this is most likely not going to work for you.

 

I absolutely adore this product, if you haven't already guessed that. It is just so good! At the moment this is on offer in Boots for just £12, and in my opinion is definitely worth picking up! I've used this as a base constantly for a few weeks now and can say that it hasn't made me break out or more dry, in fact I think this has improved my skin even when it's bare! BUY IT NOW!

 

Have you tried this BB cream?

 

Liv xox