Illamasqua cream pigments & medium pencils

I made an Illamasqua order a couple of months ago. I think I was feeling sorry for myself after hurting my foot and not being able to attend the event. So I bought a cream pigment in Hollow, a medium pencil in Fidelity and the #1 blending brush. I've wanted to try out the medium pencils for a while now and I'm so glad I got one, they're so easy and quick to apply. They blend so easily, are buildable and last really well. These are totally kit worthy, I'd love to try a few more and create a whole eye look purely with these. Such a good tool if you want a quick defined eye. I'm now a massive fan of these pencils. The blending brush is also equally amazing and goes hand in hand with the medium pencil, they work perfectly together, creating soft blown out eyes.

I bought Hollow cream pigment as I heard it was a great contour colour. It is just that, but if you're looking to use this as contour I would say to be careful and not to over load as it is quite a cool shade and can turn a tad mucky with too much product. Other than that it blends with ease, even over powder which doesn't always happen with cream products, a great contour for cooler paler complexions when you find some bronzers to be a little too warm.

The picture above shows Hollow cream pigment next to Fidelity medium pencil blended and unblended.

What do you love from Illamasqua?

Illamasqua Freak

"Teased by the sweet pungent tang of opium". An extract from Theatre of the Nameless instantly made me think of Freak. From first smelling it I loved the scent, strong, deep & with a touch of sweetness. I'd say if you enjoy Tom Ford Tobacco Vanille you may also love this. I'd save it for the night, but cold winter days seem appropriate as well. At first & well still now, I can't quite explain the scent, it's probably one of the most distinguished perfumes I've tried. Not just for the scent, but for the feelings when wearing or smelling it, Freak has a personality.

I could copy & paste the details about the fragrance, but I think that'd take away the fun & personality away from it. That & the ingredients, to me, are a foreign knowledge, but it does make me think old worldy & all things mysterious & magical. So I direct you here. Go read!

It's released on the 20th October & will retail at £59 for 75ml for Eau De Parfum, nothing less, no eau de toilettes here thanks.

Glossybox

Be it late, very late at that, I finally have the time to compose a post on my first glossybox . When I received this I was off to London Fashion Week & as soon as I got back from those hectic 7 days I was thrown straight into university. So forgive me for being the crappest blogger of all, better late than never, right?

Firsty, as a bit of a design freak I love all the care that has gone into little details, even the delivery box is appealing. Always a good start with me, win me over with design. Unfortunately, the postman/lady may have been a bit careless with my box as my hd brows palette managed to crumble a bit & spread it's way around my box. However, getting past that, I enjoyed the range of products, from hair care to moisturiser, it was a nice selection.

I was happy to see a sample of the Moa green balm, it's something I've been meaning to try, it seemed to save my cuticle disgraced hands & chapped lips, so very happy with that one.

The HD brow set colour is way too dark for myself, but I can see it being a very useful palette, the product applies nicely & seems to be of good quality, what puts it down a bit is the packaging, it reminds me of cheap cosmetic gift sets, know the ones I mean? That's always a turn off for me to be honest.

The Green People Day Solution hydrating balancing day cream, has a strong natural smell to it, not the most appealing smell but you know you're putting something good, organic & non-synthetic on your skin. Need to test this a little more.

Plum by Mary Greenwell, not my favourite kind of scent, but always nice to get testers something new, it's not going to please everyone as fragrance is a very personal thing, a little too mature for my liking.

Rahua shampoo & conditioner made my hair feel great, I still have another sample left, saving it for when I need my have to be looking somewhat good!

I'm looking forward to getting my October glossybox & seeing what's in store for this month.

Sleek Oh So Special palette

This is probably the most ideal palette for me, a selection of soft peachy tones in amongst deep chocolate browns & the deepest black. All of which are completely on trend for SS11 as well as AW11. It's ideal for day use & completely usable for a dramatic night look. The colour pay off is as per usual with the sleek palettes - surprisingly brilliant for such a low price. It retails at £6.49 & honestly you really can't go wrong, it's probably the most versatile, beautiful palette of colours that will all get used at one time or another. Definitely worth a drop in the shopping basket.

Sudocrem tube

In my adult life I've not used sudocrem as a staple, but I'm not going to lie, I have been caught with it dotted on my face during my years at uni, but I was never an avid user. This could be due to the massive, slightly less travel sized pot we have at home. But since being sent samples of the tube I've carried one with me when staying over & one by my bedside at home & have definitely come to realise the benefits of this cream.

I suffer from eczema, it's especially worse in the summer due to the heat, so putting a light layer of Sudocrem on my skin before bed has eased the itch & saved my legs being mauled by my scratching in my sleep. It also helped sooth my underarms when I had the bright idea to veet them, not the best thing I've done, it burned my skin & hurt for days, Sudocrem soothed it really well. I don't believe the Cheryl Cole claims that it'll get rid of a spot over night, but I do believe it helps soothe & protect skin really well. & for such a low price for a handy tube that you can take anywhere with you, it's definitely one of my must haves now.

Sudocrem also have this bagology app on facebook that determines your personality & traits from your bag, not sure how accurate it is but if you're intrigued & want to have a go head over to www.facebook.com/sudocremtube

Sleek Mediterranean Collection

I'm going to come clean, I've never owned a Sleek palette. I'd seen the hype, I was tempted but I never really bothered, after all I have palettes full of colours & draws full of pigments. That & I've always been a bit of a makeup snob. Bite me. I will however, eat all my words as the pigmentation in these products are incredible. In fact as I type I struggle to get an eyeshadow swatch off my hand.

The collection is inspired by vivid colours of the Mediterranean, very on trend with pop colours for S/S11. There's also a nice mix of neutrals in there, I've been reaching for the orange tones to create a colourful eye but still soft & wearable. I have to say Santorini blush scared me a little, being a make-up artist that sounds incredibly pathetic but I'm not a fan of a strong blue pink, but again I'll eat my words & say this, if applied properly (blend people!), it looks beautiful.

Monaco i-Devine palette: £6.49
Santorini Blush: £4.29.
(You know where to find these by now! Superdrug or at sleekmakeup.com)

Phil Smith Sea Salt Spray

Over the past few years sea salt spray seems to have become a cult product & what was once a hard to find product (unless you wanted to splash out on Bumble & Bumble) is now finding it's way in to many hair brand ranges. I remember a couple of years ago finding a Lee Stafford one, it wasn't expensive & the only one I could find in Boots. It was pants, instructions read "spray 50 times" 50 times? Not only could I not be bothered with that the results were sticky & horrible. So I decided to get the Label M when at my hairdressers, loved it, it got up my nose when I sprayed it but it gave great texture & volume, it's roughly £11, so not greatly expensive but still on the higher price scale.

I then tried the Phil Smith sea salt spray, it's £3.99, it smells like coconut & seems to give a slightly more tousled effect than the Label M version. Sea salt sprays tend to have a refreshing scent, it wakes me up a little more, but the Phil Smith scent has to be my favourite, not only does it give an effect of fresh air but it has that coconut infusion that smells amazing. I tend to spray this when my hair is damp & let it dry naturally, effortless & looks great, perfect for me as I'm not big on fussing over my hair. I didn't find this drying which I was slightly surprised at as my hair sometimes feels like straw, this must be due to the Pro-Vitamin B5 in the product that helps keep my hair a little smoother than the other sprays. For £3.99 I can't fault it, I've nearly finished the bottle! It's available in Sainsbury's & online at KMI club. Definitely a product to just slip into your shopping basket & give a try.

This product was sent for me to review, however, this does not affect my opinion & I will only give my honest thoughts.

Illamasqua Toxic Nature

00. Any company that sends me literature designed so beautifully, and so image heavy that my eyes never tire is an instant favourite. I've always loved Illamasqua, but this has topped my admiration over the edge to possible obsession. I literally cannot stop looking at these images, yes the makeup might be far from being consumer friendly, but aren't we a little bored of that anyway, who walks past a Bobbi Brown poster and takes a second look with awe? I've seen a few negative comments on the visuals because of that, but you cannot deny the incredible makeup artistry & personally I'd rather see this as a visual than a smokey eye. This baby is going in my inspiration folder, I love you Alex Box, you genius.

01. I was generously sent two of the cream pigments & a nail varnish from Hayley & Alex. I was unable to attend the event so it was a nice surprise coming home to this package that has everything, even the address label imprinted with the beauty of Illamasqua. I've given it a week or two to try out the products, I don't want to just jump in there, so you know I've tried & tested these products well.

02. Nail Varnish in Stagnate. Stagnate is a grey mauve, not a colour I would allocate to the S/S11 trends, but a colour I cannot get enough of. The purple undertone gives it that colourful edge, it's far from being a dull grey. Everything chips on my nails, they're very flexible therefore nothing lasts long, but on my strongest nails this varnish held up well & I'm really considering getting some falsies so I can wear this colour for longer & falsies are not my style! That is love people. The varnish goes on beautifully, no clogging, high shine, top notch stuff.

03. Cream pigments in Emerge and Delirium. Honestly, what better colours could I ask for? Peach & a taupe, very good against blue eyes. I've had a problem with creasing with Emerge, but no one else has, so it's very likely to be just me with the problem. Despite the initial creasing, I still pursued, I really loved the buildability and ease of blending with these pigments. Over the top of a MAC paint pot they last hours, with a bit of a base they're crease free & I don't seem to have a problem with Delirium creasing at all, so it's possibly been the lavish application of Emerge that was giving me a problem, you can't blame me though, the colour is so beautiful built up to the max.

04. Not from this collection, but my top favourite product for S/S11 from Illamasqua is the Gleam Cream. If you want something to give incredibly beautiful luminosity to the skin you need this. I think I rave on twitter about it at least once a week.

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Umberto Giannini Backcomb In A Bottle

I'm a fan of big hair, big, big hair. Despite not having massively long hair, it's thick & it's heavy so I'm always ruffing it up to restore the volume. I backcomb layers & hairspray each one, but not only does this take time & effort, it also makes my hair feel gross, unmovable & not to mention isn't great for the health of my hair.

Now I've been looking for this stuff ever since Kelly posted about it's damn right amazingness, but alas, it's ben sold out in all my local Boots. So when I got an email asking as a little Christmas gesture if I'd like to be sent a bottle as I'd been finding it so hard, I was over the moon. Sadly it'd been sitting in the Royal Mail depo for some time as it couldn't fit in my mail box & I must have been out & about when they attempted to bring me this little can of joy, so when my star of a mam went to go pick it up for me I was done with waiting & couldn't wait to try it. I loved it from the first try & knew I had to spread the word.

I've just had my hair cut & coloured & whenever I go to the hairdressers, no matter where I go I always feel that I'm walking out of the salon with crazy flat hair, so I thought, prime time to show you the wonders of this product. The first picture is obviously my post salon pancake hair, next is after I've sprayed the Backcomb in a Bottle through a few sections of my hair & juzzed it up with my fingers & finally, the third picture shows the results of a little more of the product through my hair & a blast from the hairdryer with my head upside down. Voila, volume! Bloody love this stuff!

Problematic skin? Vichy normaderm review

If you've been a follower of my blog for a while now, you might know that I've suffered quite badly with my skin. I'm 22, I have oily skin & enlarged pores which leads to them getting clogged which then creates blemishes &/or blackheads. Brilliant combination, right? Well, at least I'll have less wrinkles when I'm older I suppose! My skin has improved massively in the past year, I've had microdermabrasion treatments to help with scarring & have learnt that using gentle cleansers on oil skin is your best bet, anything targeted for acne prone skin just strips the oils which in turn seems to worsen my skin.

So when I was contacted to try out the new Vichy normaderm Tri-Activ Anti-Imperfection Hydrating Care & I'd read a little about it I was very interested to try it out. Microdermabrasion helps smooth out my skin & get rid of blackheads, but unless this is kept up the smoothness disappears. This is why I'm really impressed with this product, when I use it my skin is so supple & soft I can totally tell the difference if I stop using it for a couple of days.

Basically the product is an emollient that helps to perfect yout skin with its unique Hydra Peeling technology. There are three peeling ingredients in the gel: salicyclic acid, glycolic acid & LHA. So while it moistuises your skin it also helps fight impurities with salicylic acid, neutralises bacteria on the skin with glycolic acid & gives an exfoliation with the LHA. It's the LHA that seems to help the smoothness of the skin as it helps "gently micro-exfoliate the surface of the skin for a smoother surface and uniform complexion." Pretty good & perfect for skin types like me.

I can definitely feel the 'peel' of my skin with this product & that is why I only use it at night. It does give a lovely radiant but matte finish to the skin when applied which would be great for a base to apply makeup to, but with the peeling I prefer to use this as night time moisturiser & use my MAC oil control lotion during the day.

If you want to read more about this product click here.

I know a lot of people have reviewed this product & you can get tired of seeing the same things or wondering who's actually telling the truth about them but I pride myself in giving honest opinions on products. If I don't like a product, I either don't review it or voice my opinion, it's as simple as that. I've been using this product for two weeks now & could have given a review within the first couple of days, but I like to give products a good run & test them properly. I would definitely buy this again.

Review: Cloud 9 straigteners

As the post states, I'm going to be reviewing the Cloud 9 straighteners. I'm going to set this into a series of posts. This initial post will be my review on the design, concept & the results. The following posts will consist of style results from these beauties. I'll be trying out looks from their website & posting the end look to show you the versatility of the product. So, onto the review.


What Cloud Nine say:

'The Cloud Nine Iron is our original and most popular straightener. These are the irons that have got the beauty industry buzzing, and rightly so. Suitable for all hair types, they use state-of-the-art temperature control technology, allowing you to create lots of exciting looks, without having to use searing heat. Whether you want to smooth, flick, curl or straighten your hair, you can - at a lower temperature than you ever thought possible. And the added beauty of less heat? Less damage to your hair. This is a straightener that’s packed with incredible features. From the simple-to-follow temperature gauge, to the hibernation mode and swivel cord, it has everything you need to make the most of your style. What's more, its unique black plates provide added shine every time you use them.'



Packaging

[ I did have a photograph of the front/top of the outer sleeve, but stupidly deleted it off my camera without saving onto my macbook. *hand-forehead* But you still get the overall feel with this photo of the back, the only difference is that the front/sides only carry the name/logo. ]

The packaging is very sleek & minimalistic. The box is very sturdy & the design seems to have been thought about as it's not like the standard packaging you come across with many tools - it shouts out expensive. I'm a box hoarder & a design lover so I like this. One thing that annoys me about the packaging though, is the fiddliness of fitting your straighteners back in. When putting the wire back under the panel the straighteners lie on, it's a bit of a faff on to get it right so the panel lies in place. Not a huge problem, but I'm one of those sad people that like to keep my products in the box, especially when the box is as stylish as this one!



Inside of the box

Inside the box you find the gorgeous straighteners with a heat guard & a carry pouch underneath.


The Cloud Nines come with:

• Temperature control panel
• Black ceramic plates
• Swivel cord
• Heat guard
• Hibernation mode
• RFID Chip
• Dual adaptor
• Universal voltage
• 2 years warranty

On first looks the Cloud Nines look like many other straighteners on the market, a little sleeker than most, but still a familiar shape. Looking closer to the design (in comparison with GHDs) I find that the Cloud Nines are ever so slightly thinner & the swivel cord doesn't just swivel round but also to the side. It's hard to explain, but I assume it's on a rotating ball, so movement is even easier than the standard swivel cord.

The Heat guard is such a simple but great idea. Not only will it help you avoid burn marks on the carpet (come on everyone's burnt something with their straighteners at some point!) but it'll also save the wiring as you don't need to tightly wrap it round the barrel to keep it closed. Once you've finished using the styler you can pop it straight into the heat guard, no waiting needed.


Heat control







The main feature of the Cloud Nine stylers is the heat control. In the past I've had heat control straighteners but nothing really happened on the lower temperatures & I'd always wack it up to the maximum. With these however, I haven't even tried them on the highest heat. This coming from someone with very thick hair, not only is it thick in amount but each strand is thick & slightly coarse. So to say I can get amazing results just from 150 °C is incredible as sometimes my GHD's don't even give me the finish these baby's do on almost double the heat.

Navigation is simple, as you can see the controls are on the inner side & again are very sleek & fit well into the design. To change the temperature you simply tap on the Hi or Lo button & the LED will change to the temperature you've set it to. If you, like me, sometimes forget to switch off your straighteners don't worry, these beauties will sense when they have been on for 30 minutes but not used & will cool down to box temperature. So this means no worrying when you finally remember half way through the day that you've left them on!




Want to know how they perform...?

Amazing.

No kidding. These are fantastic. I can't shut up about them. I actually brought them to a friends, (one of these friends being a hairdresser) & despite probably thinking 'hmmm, what are these? They aren't GHD' she was massively impressed & loved how they worked. Everyone who's sneaked a cheeky play have loved the glide of the iron & finish. Like I said before, I've not used these on the top heat yet, which is something that has surprised me especially with my type of hair. The maximum heat I've tried is 175 °C but I usually just stick to 150 °C & my hair ends up better looking than it ever does with my GHD irons. It's shiny (rare for a highlighted blonde, dry hair type) smooth & so so soft. Whilst living between my parents home & my university house I'd left the Cloud Nines at home & was actually disappointed that I'd have to use my GHDs.

Hopefully by now you should know I give my gods honest opinion on things, so trust me when I say if you're needing new straighteners please consider buying these instead of going for the usual GHD safe option. I'm a self confessed apprehensive buyer & would probably have chose GHD over Cloud Nine if I had not known how amazing they are, as it seems like a safe option. You know they work, you know they're good, but believe me, they're not as good as these (come on, Hooker & Young use them, they've got to be good!). I feel so much better using Cloud Nine irons on my hair as I know the damage to my hair is a lot less & this is something I'm being very careful about these days after going for the big chop earlier on in the year.

One other unique thing that I love about these stylers is the RFID chip (say what?). This chip means your straighteners can be identified with it's own unique number. Meaning that the iron can be tracked & monitored through it's lovely life to ensure it's a genuine product only sold by authorised stockists. How cool is that? I bet you've heard of one or more people buying popular brand irons that end up being fake.

Want to find out more on things I've mentioned or just curious about these gifts from God? Here's the website - Cloud Nine

Look out for my style posts using the Cloud Nines.

Pssst... if you buy a styler now you get a free St. Tropez Perfect Legs tan - who doesn't love a good set of bronzed pins in the summer?



These were sent to me for reviewing purposes, but in no way am I giving false opinions. I give you my brownie promise, my review is true to my own thoughts.

TOPSHOP makeup

So everyone has been talking about it in the beauty community, at first I wasn't too interested but curiosity got the better of me. I swear I should have been a cat. My local Topshop stocks the range, so I popped in to have a quick look, ummed and ahhed and then went off to Boots. It must have been the multiple Topshop bags sporting 'Topshop makeup' that made me go back. I love the packaging, very quirky, my kind of style. However, I don't see it lasting very well & staying nice and clean in a makeup bag. I can see the paper cover on the lipstick getting a little tatty. We shall see.









So, this is what I fell for. Desert lipstick, a looovely peachy neutral colour. I'm very much a peach girl so this was a must. It's got a lovely creamy texture, a lot of coverage and a nice sheen/gloss, a little like a cremesheen. Yummy, yummy, yummy.

The next product is an eye crayon in the colour Satchel. It's a gorgeous cool brown with very obvious but beautiful fine gold glitter. They're surprisingly creamy and nice to blend, I was half expecting them to be similar to the Barry M crayons that I feel pull a bit on the skin unless warmed up.

Finally, the liquid liner pen. Hmmmm, I love the fact that this gives a glossy finish, something I've been wanting for years from an eyeliner. However, it moves. You'll see in the final picture that at the end of the day the line isn't as crisp and it definitely transferred to my crease at some point. I'm going to give this another try, but with only a base on my lid and lots of powder on my crease. Another note on this eyeliner, it doesn't like going over product very much, I had to finish off the flick with another liner as the Topshop one needed a rest.

It was more of a smoked line at the end of the day...hmmmm. & I've got end of the day eyebrows, lets ignore that, ey!

Overall, I'm quite impressed and plan to try more products, especially the lipsticks.

Aveeno review: Dry skin sufferer?

I suffer from eczema quite badly at times & due to more humid weather (well more than usual in England) it always flares up during the summer months. I've heard briefly about taking a bath with oats as it'll calm your skin, but honestly I'm more of a LUSH bath girl than an Oatso Simple bather. So when I was asked if I wanted to try out some Aveeno products I was quite happy to. If anyone else suffers from eczema you'll understand how uncomfortable it can be, constantly trying to resist scratching but then having to surrender, which really only makes it worse. So a product that I am now loving to calm my skin down is Aveeno Skin relief moisurising lotion.

• Formulated with shea butter and a unique Triple Oat complex containing finely milled naturally active colloidal oatmeal, oat oil and oat essence.
• Clinically proven to moisturise for 24 hours and soothe on contact, providing immediate, long lasting relief for extra dry, irritable skin.
• Skin is left looking and feeling soft, smooth and healthy.
• Fragrance free and fast-absorbing.

This lotion is fantastic, it really is. I'm actually wishing I had it with me right now (downside of living in two places!) because I'm fighting the urge to itch! Whenever my skin becomes irritated I grab for this lotion, slap it on & almost instantly my skin is soothed. It really does help moisturise & sooth, so if you're like me & not too keen on bathing with some porridge oats this is a great other option.

My only negative thought to Aveeno products is the smell. There's no gorgeous sweet or floral smell that I love when chosing a moisturiser. Obviously this can be a good thing for people with sensitive skin in that there's no fragrances to irritate. But there is a slight smell which is only really noticeable when applying, but it's something I'm not too keen on. It's not unpleasant but I love a fragrant moisturiser that fills my room & sticks to my skin.

I've also tried the daily moisturiser & hand cream (which I just recently found my mums cosmetics draw). Both are great moisturisers & the hand cream feels so luxurious & sinks right into the skin leaving hands silky smooth. I think I might actually go out & get a tube of it to replace my Soap & Glory hand food. Not that I've ran out of that, but my god this Aveeno one feels heavenly!

Aveeno products are available in Boots, Superdrug & I'd imagine at large supermarkets, it's widely available & prices are around the £5+ mark.

Want to know more from other eczema sufferers? There's some great posts on here http://www.eczemavoice.com

Results thanks to Wahanda

A few months ago I was contacted by Lopo from Wahanda who very kindly offered me some vouchers. These vouchers can be redeemed in spas, salons, gyms, studios & hotels all over the UK. Only today did I take advantage of that, 1 day before they expired. I have a terrible tendency to do things like that. But I'm glad I did because I may never have gone for this drastic hair change!

The vouchers are beautiful & each salon I went into querying about prices & appointments wanted to have a peek at them. Being a student of design for years now & a total design fiend of anything I absolutely loved the graphics & presentation of these. Not just the usual couple of vouchers in a card, you know? These would be such a beautiful present.







I pretty much decided from the start that I'd use these to get my hair done. The first salon I went to was Burlingtons, they have fantastic reviews & are very well known in the hair industry, but boy do they charge for it. A full head of highlights was going to be £90, then the cut on top of that - £60 & then possibly a toner which was £30, total = £180. No thank you. The other Salon was City Retreat. A small salon in a FX leisure gym, I was tempted to join it after seeing the swimming pool & jacuzzi area, probably the only part I'd use though!

I decided to go with City Retreat. My hairdresser was Lindsay who put me at total ease during the consultation & when it came to chopping off the length I just said "go for it". When I go to the hairdresser sometimes I feel like they don't totally know what I want or know what's up to date & are set in their typical standard hairdresser styles. But Lindsay knew exactly what I wanted & talked me through a lot of tips & what she was going to do. It was probably one of the nicest experiences I've had at the hairdressers, Lindsay was so chatty & made me feel comfortable (which I needed since I was getting a hefty amount of hair chopped off), she stayed late to finish my hair & I'll definitely return in 8 weeks to get my roots & trim.

Want to see the pictures? Here's before, lovely long hair but in terrible condition:






now?



So what'd you think? It's so different & feels strange, but I do like it.

Review: Benefit silky powder eyeshadow in Guess again

I was contacted by the lovely Joyce at www.beautyjudge.com about a month ago. It's a great site to go to for reviews of products, because they're true reviews & Joyce explained how she didn't mind if the review was bad or good, a review is a review & we need to know the bad ones too!

Needless to say I really like this product. I am not a Benefit type of girl, purely due to the price of their products, so I'm glad I was sent this because otherwise I wouldn't have chose it myself & it's actually a lovely eyeshadow.


What Benefit say

Love Your Look "makeup to match your lifestyle" introduces nine new silky matte powder eye shadow shades that "smooth" on for even coverage to enhance and contour. They blend effortlessly with the love your look creaseless cream shadow/liners so you can mix & match for guaranteed gorgeous.

What you get for your money

£12.60 for 3.50 g Net wt. 0.12 oz It's quite a big eyeshadow so I think it's actually an ok price.


What I think

The colour reminds me of a matte Satin Taupe, it's got that purple undertone to it that goes really well with my blue eyes. The powder is very finely milled & is super silky, so it lives up to it's product name 'silky powder eyeshadow'. Because it is so silky & I want to say creamy because it just feels like it, the blendability of this eyeshadow is amazing. Pigmentation as you can see is amazing, that is one swatch from my finger, I haven't layered it at all. It claims to be creaseless, & I haven't had creasing from it at all, but I have always put it over a MAC paintpot as I wouldn't apply eyeshadow without a base. I actually place this colour in my crease & have had no problems with it creasing at all. I honestly can't get over how blendable, silky & pigmented this eyeshadow is, it's fantastic & I've never actually come across a texture or colour like this one before. I would definitely give this top marks overall, I really love it!

I love this in my crease & outer corner as it's buildable, so for a really quick look, I can just pat on my usual paint pot & then blend this into the crease for a really quick but slightly smokey eye.


No picture really captured it that greatly, because I was in a rush to get out the house I couldn't keep trying for a better one. But this is just Guess Again really lightly in the crease along with MAC Rubenesque paintpot.

Go have a look on www.beautyjudge.com for more reviews, you can also join up to give reviews on products too!

Soap and Glory Clean On Me Creamy Clarifying shower gel

I've been meaning to do a review on this for a while now, but always forgot! This stuff is amazing!

What it is:
Clean on me is a 'creamy clarifying shower gel' that contains 'natural mandarin peel extract and a bonus built-in body lotion'. It claims that you can 'have it all... soft, smooth sexy skin whenever you want it'.

What you get for your money:
For a 500ml bottle you will pay £5 in boots, but it is currently on offer for £3.33, fantastic value! You can also pick up a great 75ml travel size bottle for £1.50.

What I think:
I can't praise this enough & after using it I really don't want to buy any other shower gel, I think it's that amazing. I didn't actually buy this, my mum did & I'm really glad she did, otherwise I probably would never have thought of buying it myself.
It has the Soap & Glory smell that is divine & is loved by many; refreshing, sweet & not too over-powering. I use this with a shower puff & fully recommend anyone to use one too, as you'll get more out of this product. I only use one to two pumps for the whole of my body, you need no more, I promise you. With one to two pumps it will lather the whole body puff & you'll still have some left after covering your body in this gorgeous shower gel. When applying it, it feels silky smooth & probably feels like the best shower gel/wash I have ever used. It feels luxurious. I feel like I sound like I'm being paid or something to sell this product, I am not, I just love it that much! My skin after wards feels silky smooth due to the built-in body lotion, so great for those of us that don't always have time to moisturise. I also use this when I shave & find it works brilliantly due to the moisturising nature of this product.
Since you only need such little amount of product for each use this will last forever. I can't remember how long we've had it, but it's definitely been a fair few months!

Anatomicals hair review

I was kindly sent some Anatomicals products to try out last week & I have been reaching for them when I've been washing my locks. So here's what I think.



Firstly we have young, free and tingle head shock shampoo.

What you get for your money:
The shampoo is a very reasonably priced £2.49, fantastic for when our pockets are feeling a little empty. For £2.49 you'll get a 250ml bottle covered in quirky words & pictures.

What Anatomicals say:
"If you want to wash that man/woman out of your hair, this is the perfect shampoo with which to do it with. One application and you'll instantly forget your past love and be ready to hit the streets looking for romance, your hair all shiny, glossy and smelling fresh. The inclusion of peppermint oil and menthol will also really wake you up in the morning. Just in case your latest conquest is unable to stay for breakfast."


What I think:
Usually I will use shampoo specially for coloured hair, it keeps my colour fresh & means I need to dye it less, so honestly this wouldn't be my first choice. That being said, I do really like this product. When first putting it into my hands I instantly smell it's menthol scent which soothes my cold/allergy bunged up head. Good so far. So when lathering it into my hair, the menthol smell gets stronger & perks me up from my grogginess. The 'tingle' cooling sensation then kicks in & feels amazing. If like me, you are not a morning person & need that extra hand to wake you up, then you should put this on your bathroom shelf. You can't help feeling more alert & fresh. It cleans my hair very well, it seems too squeaky clean actually & this worried me a bit because my hair is dry/damaged. However, when drying my hair all seems fine & I actually like the final finish.

I'll definitely continue to use this product (specially in the mornings when I just want to go back to bed), but will probably have to use one wash of this & one wash of a colour specific shampoo, as I felt my colour dulled a little when using this. Writing this now my head is reminiscing the menthol, refreshing sensation, needless to say I really enjoy using this shampoo & feel it'd be perfect for when you're feeling a little under the weather & tired.






Next is the sleek shall inherit the earth hair conditioner.


What you get for your money:
Again the conditioner is very reasonably priced at £2.49. For £2.49 you'll get a 250ml bottle covered in more quirky words & pictures.

What Anatomicals say:
"In Religious Education at school, we all learnt that it was the meek who would inherit the earth. Well, fat lot those and any teachers knew. It's really the vain and self-obsessed about their hair who will inherit the earth. Obviously, no RE teacher was, and is, ever going to know that. We mean have you seen their hair? Bird's nest would be a compliment. So the upshot is, use this conditioner and the whole planet is yours."

What I think:

First thing I notice is that the conditioner has no obvious smell, what smell it does have is quite subtly pleasant, but nothing amazing. It's very creamy & I leave it on for a couple of minutes before washing. I like to do this with every conditioner, my hair is quite dry & leaving the conditioner on for a little longer doesn't hurt. I've let my hair dry naturally & I've blow-dried it with this conditioner & it does deliver. I go for very moisturising conditioners due to my hair type so didn't expect this to do a great job, but I have no complains & my hair has felt smooth, conditioned & shiny for once!

Anatomicals products are available from their website www.anatomicals.net, ASOS, HQHair & from what I've heard some Boots stores.