Kate Moss for Rimmel - 107 wine matte lipstick

For the past few weeks I've been looking for the perfect deep bloodred lip colour to match with my autumn wardrobe. I'm loving the deep red matte lip look but wanted something relatively cheap and cheerful as it's not something I'm planning on wearing all that often, so doubt I'll see the bottom of the tube!

Rimmel's matte lip colour in '107 wine' from their Kate Moss collection ticks all of the boxes. It has incredible staying power and gives a really vampy, striking look. It costs just £5.49 from Boots and I paired it with the Rimmel 1000 kisses lip liner in '063 Black Tulip' which matched perfectly and costs just £2.99 - also from Boots.

This gave the colour a sharp outline and increased the staying power again. I wore this to watch the fireworks on Guy Fawkes night and didn't have to reapply once in 3 hours.

I love the overall look of this lipcolour and think it's the perfect shade for the season. Plus it's a bargain, and us girls love a bargain!

(PS Boots have 3 for 2 across their makeup, hair and beauty in store at the moment so buy the lippy and liner and get a third item for free! Told you we love a bargain!)

x

Halloween makeup - feeling feline!

Hello lovely readers,

Just popping up a quick post on my halloween makeup for this year. I was lucky enough to go down to the Masked Ball at the Lizard with my hubby last weekend - which was utterly amazing!! (See the video footage here: http://m.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DgJBCKBppMBw&h=KAQHWWhuu&s=1 courtesy of Twisted Vision.)

I wanted to share this look as I managed to create it mainly using the make-up I already own with the need for facepaint etc so it's a pretty straightforward look to create if you're invited to a party at the last-minute.

First off I moisturised my face using my Green People day solution moisturiser and then prepped my face using Revlon Photoready Perfecting Primer.

I applied Estee Lauder double wear liquid foundation using a stippling brush to my entire face and then using a foundation brush I heavily contoured the hollows my cheeks, my temples and the top of my forehead using Revlon Photoready Skinlights in 'bronze'. I then highlighted my cheekbones, nose and chin again using Revlon Photoready Skinlights but this time in 'pink'.

I used my new Sleek eyebrow palette in 'light' to shape and then fill the main body of my eyebrow, and then to drag out the tails to above my natural brow line. You can see in the first picture that my natural brow sits just below the brow end that I have drawn on. This gives the eye area a much larger appearance.
I then shaded the sides of my nose using a shadow brush with a flat brown eyeshadow and connected this shading right up to the inner brow area. I applied a small coat of white facepaint to my upper lip, the bridge of my nose and my lower forehead at this point, just to make these areas stand out a little more, but if you don't have this to hand then don't worry, the look will work without it.

I used a kohl eyeliner pencil and my Eco Tools smudge brush to fill my upper lid with black, setting this with a flat black eye shadow. I created a heart shaped 'nose' on the tip of nose using my kohl eyeliner and set this with black eyeshadow, connecting down to a small line to my cupid's bow which I created using my NARS Eyeliner Stylo. I fixed everything with a dusting of Diorskin Forever pressed powder.

This is the look at this stage:

To finish the look off, I added some whisker points on my upper lip and lined my upper lash line using my NARS eyeliner again. I brought this topliner down the inner corners of my eyes toward the bridge of my nose to elongate the eye and then highlighted the entire eye area - above and below - using my Bourjois Little Round Pot eyeshadow in '01 - light'. I lined my inner upper and lower waterlines with Sleek ink pot in 'dominatrix' and popped on some false eyelashes giving my upper and lower lashes a quick coat of Estee Lauder Sumptuous Extreme mascara in extreme black.

And voila! Here is the finished look whilst we had stopped for a cheeky Maccy's on the way!!
(My ear headband is from Accessorize).

I hope you enjoy this basic and easy to create look, and that you all have a spook-tacular halloween!! x

NOTD feat Essie 'Don't Sweater It'

Just a quick post to share today's nail colour with you!

I'm currently wearing Essie's Don't Sweater It and love the deep, autumnal colour as a luxe alternative to my usual auburn/maroon for the season.

Don't Sweater It is a rich, chocolatey mauve-brown with purple undertones which give it further depth. It's a glossy, solid colour which looks fab with a chunky sweater and jeans for the autumn. 

Essie nail polishes are three-free and are available from Selfridges.com for £10.95 per bottle.

Moroccanoil - my hair saviour - review

So back in August 2012 I reviewed my gorgeous, new Moroccanoil Barrel brush. I mentioned back then that Moroccanoil is my hands-down hair wonder product and a few people asked if I could write a review...

Well, for those lucky people, just 13 months later here it is!! Yes, prompt, I know!


For those who haven't tried / heard of Moroccanoil it came onto the UK market a few years ago and was hailed a hair super hero! And for good reason.  This beautiful hair oil not only protects your hair, but it also replenishes and repairs the hair, leaving it supple, shiny and super soft.

I have always used the original formula, despite a new 'light' version for fine and light-coloured hair being released. Though I have both fine and light-coloured hair, I find that the original formula suits my hair perfectly with the small amount that I use.

Moroccanoil original hair treatment - 100ml - £31.85

I simply wash my hair as usual and roughly towel dry until damp. I then dispense a small amount (roughly the size of a 20p piece) using the pump nozzle provided and work this through from around mid length to the ends of my hair. It smells utterly delicious, and is absorbed super quickly. Surprisingly it doesn't weigh hair down, nor does it make it feel greasy and I find it also helps my hair to dry a lot faster as it separates and nourishes it - always a bonus when your normal hair drying time is around half an hour, hello dead arm! Once blow dried I style as usual and voila! Perfectly nourished, healthy-looking hair, which also smells divine!!
The Moroccanoil also helps to protect the hair from heat, so blow drying and styling is less damaging, with hair looking soft and full bodied once styled.

I have also found that my hair suffers a lot less from frizz and flyaways in humid and damp weather when using the Moroccanoil. If my hair is especially dry - for example if I am on holiday somewhere hot - I will also use a small amount on the ends once styled just for that additional moisture and shine.

Moroccanoil is available from good hairdressers - such as the fabulous Afina in Truro - and also from feelunique.com. It retails at around £31.00 for the original, full 100ml size bottle which comes with the pump dispenser.

If you're concerned about Autumn being one long bad hair day, I'd seriously recommend that you give this product a go! x

Naked Bodycare - nudey goodness! ♥

As you are probably now aware from my previous blog posts and general moans about nasty, naughty ingredients in skincare and cosmetic products, I try to ensure that I use products which are organic-based and give good results, naturally.

A few months back whilst undergoing my usual gargantuan weekly nappy run in my local Boots store I went to peruse the baby skincare shelf, just to see whether they had any new offerings for me. I am an avid label-checker, especially when it comes to skincare products for my children. I always, ALWAYS avoid using products with dangerous preservatives and foaming agents (parabens, SLS etc) which generally means that I struggle to buy anything off the shelf in my local drugstore or supermarket since most of the 'bigger' brands seem all too happy to sell bottles of pesticides and harsh detergents for our children's bath routines....nicely bottled in pretty packaging with 'caring' logos, of course ;)
This all changed, however, when I noticed a new line of children's skincare products perched happily on the shelf: mini Naked from Naked Bodycare.

First off I noticed the 97% natural claim on the front of the packaging, then upon studying the ingredients list on the back of I discovered that they were free of all the nasties I banish from my bathroom cabinets. Excited at the prospect of being able to buy natural and 'safe' products from my local Boots store I popped a bottle of go ga-ga gentle bodywash into my basket and heaved it along with my ridiculous tower of nappies to the till (via the women's skincare aisle where I also nabbed a bottle of Ooh La La Naked - Coco de Mer body wash. Well you have to try the adult range too, right?!).

mini Naked go ga-ga bodywash - £2.99

Naked Ooh La La Coco de Mer body wash - £3.99

Unfortunately, one of my scrummy twin daughters, Sophia, suffers with dry skin and eczema - triggered by heat and dry, cold weather. I have to be so careful with any skincare products that I use on her and am always hesitant to change once I have found a product that works. However, I hesitantly gave the go ga-ga a trial run and happily found that she had absolutely no reaction to the Naked bodycare wash. It was gentle and lightly scented, with enough foam to satisfy you that they are getting the day's pasta, snot and mud off, but without stripping their delicate skin. Winner! I now use this on all three of my children, with no complaints from any of them.
I have also been fortunate enough to receive a bottle of the Bananas and Custard 2-in-1 shampoo from the lovely people at Naked to try during our oh-so-fun bathtimes! This is DELICIOUS! It leaves their hair tangle free (not an easy task with the twins, who always resemble a pair of swamp monsters by lunch time, intent on removing any hair ties/clips and smearing most things into their own/each other's hair on a daily basis) and smelling delicious. Again, this product contains no nasties, it is tear-free and suitable for vegetarians and vegans too!

Naked Bananas and Custard kids 2 in 1 shampoo - £2.99

On to mummy's products! I absolutely adore the scent of the Naked Coco de Mer bodywash, again it's gentle so doesn't irritate in any way, and leaves you feeling squeaky clean with a hint of yummy frangrance. It smells and feels like a luxury product, containing coconut derivatives and passion flower extract  (yum!) but without a hefty price tag. My new favourite shower product!

Naked also were kind enough to send me a bottle of their Detox 2 in 1 shampoo. I have very fine blonde hair, which takes a lot of maintenance to keep it thick but without lots of sitting product. I find that my hair does suffer from build up fairly easily and this product has been a life saver! I've been using this product on it's own once a week to gently bring my hair back to it's 'naked' condition. It really makes a huge and very noticeable difference, with my hair instantly feeling lighter, squeaky clean and softer. The 'clean' feeling also stays until the next day too, so no need for dry shampoos etc to maintain that freshness. It acts as a shampoo and conditioner, so you don't need any secondary products.
Because my hair is so fine and flyaway I do suffer from static and so will add a heat protection conditioning spray before drying if I blow dry my hair after use. However, when left to dry naturally this isn't necessary.

Naked Detox 2 in 1 shampoo and conditioner - £3.99

I can't wait to try more from the Naked range, the heat protection spray and body building hair mousse are next on my 'to buy' list along with the 24 hour Naked Coco de Mer body butter. Yum!

Naked heat protection spray - £4.99

So all in all a big thumbs up from mummy and children, and also daddy too - who appreciates the banana and custard scented children!

Thankyou, Naked Bodycare, for finally bringing natural, safe children's products to our highstreet shelves! x