This or That TAG

I know that I haven't really done any posts that are more of a personal nature to tell you a little bit about me, and I will start to do that if you think it would be fun to read - but I can tell you that I am a very logical and decisive person, with views and opinions about most things. So when my friend Jannat (from Artical and Fashion Knowledge) tagged me for the This or That? post that's been doing the rounds lately I thought - that should be easy to do. Well I have news for you my friends - IT WASN'T! I guess it just shows that we all have many sides to our characters, and while I may be decisive at work and practical things - I'm definitely on the proverbial fence when it comes to lifestyle. However, being an optimist I prefer to see that as a result of my natural curiosity and openness to new things, and in many cases I don't want to limit myself in any way shape or form. As Him indoors always says: "- I used to be indecisive, but now I'm not so sure..." Anyway that's a small insight into my character, and now let's move quickly on to the questions in the tag, starting with makeup.

Makeup:
1. Blush or Browns - I'm not sure what's meant by browns, so I'll assume that it's bronzer which I'll use for both sculpting and to add some color.
2. Lip gloss or lip stick - Lip gloss
3. Eyeliner or mascara - Mascara (ha - this was an easy one)
4. Foundation or concealer - If I had to go for just one it would be concealer since I don't use full coverage foundation or foundation all over my face anyway
5. Natural or colored eyeshadow - Depends on what look I go for, but the majority of the time it's more natural
6. Pressed or loose eyeshadow - Pressed, loose eyeshadow and powder just goes everywhere and you end up wasting a lot of it
7. Brush or sponge - Definitely brushes, sponges are just messy and again you risk wasting a lot of product

Nails:
1. Opi or China Glaze - OPI, love love love OPI, they have amazing formulas and shades
2. Long or short - Long
3. Acrylic or catural - Natural
4. Bright or dark - Dark
5. Flower or no flower - No flower, but I am very partial to a little or a LOT of sparkle!

Body:
1. Perfume or body splash - Definitely perfume
2. Lotion or body butter - Definitely body butter
3. Body wash or soap - Definitely wash since I avoid soap as much as possible
4. Lush or Other - Lush does have amazing things, but I couldn't limit myself to just using products from one brand and there's just too many other nice things to choose, so this would be both

Fashion:
1. Jeans or sweat pants - Jeans, can be dressed up or down - great for any occasion
2. Long sleeves or short sleeves - Compromise: 3/4 length (how creative am I...)
3. Dress or skirt - I love dresses, but also wear a lot of skirts so for me it's definitely both
4. Scarves or hat - Scarves, but not to wear around the head
5. Studs or dangling earrings - Studs
6. Necklace or bracelet - Necklace, there's nothing like a gorgeous statement necklace
7. Heels or flats - Heels, but I have started to be a little bit more practical and love a great pair of flats too
8. Cowboy boots or riding boots - Riding boots
9. Jackets or hoodies - Jackets
10. Forever 21 or Charlotte Russe - Forever 21

Hair:
1. Curly or straight - Well I wouldn't go as far as to say curly, but definitely wavy
2. Bun or ponytail - Bun, although I wear ponytails at some point almost every single day
3. Bobby pin or butterfly clips - Bobby pin
4. Hairspray or gel - Hairspray
5. Long or short - Long, long, loooooooooong
6. Dark or light, Light
7. Side swept bangs or full bangs - Side swept for me, but full bangs look great on others
8. Up or down - Depends on my mood, outfit and occasion. Since I have long hair I find it quite boring to just leave it down, although that is what Him indoors prefers...

Random:
1. Rain or shine - Shine - the more the merrier and the bronzier
2. Summer or winter - I love all the seasons because they're each beautiful in their own way, but I have to go with winter since I prefer to be more dressed up - a lovely coat, stylish boots, leather... aaaaaaah nice
3. Fall or spring - Again they are both lovely but I guess I would need to go for fall because of the beautiful colors (but hate the rain).
4. Chocolate or vanilla - Neither, I'm not a chocolate lover and vanilla is too plain, so if those were the only options on a dessert menu, I'd rather pass. If I decide to go for something naughty it'll be in a flavour that I will really enjoy and it will always be something with a fruity taste, e.g. mango, passion fruit or raspberry. 


So now you know a little bit more about me, and I TAG the following beauties to share a little bit about themselves:

Bethan - Little Miss Fashion

Niamh & Beth - Niamh and Beth

Zoe - Writing Whimsy

Karen - In My Humble Opinion

Ashley - Unicorn Meat:Voracious reviews and randomness

I'll be back tomorrow with another post - have a great day everyone! Xx

Manic.Monday: Candied Bourjois

I've had a real love affair with the latest Bourjois products as you can see in my Fave 5 - Bourjois products and on one of my many visits to Superdrug they had a 3 for 2 offer that I couldn't refuse, and in the end I turned to nail polish to make up the magic 3. They have a lovely range of colors available and I decided on Bourjois So Laque Ultra Shine Nail Polish in Fuchsia Hype which is a lovely warm shade, with faint violet undertones.  

I am speculating now, but I get the feeling that So Laque Ultra Shine is supposed to be a rival of Barry M's Gelly Paints. Apparently the formula contains an extra dose of vinyl and reflecting resins to give that extra high shine finish and it also claims to be highly resistant and long lasting, with wear up to 7 days.

Fuchsia Hype

The brush is of a fairly standard width and should be easy to work with, however the formula of this polish is VERY thin and watery which means that it's tricky to get just the right amount on the brush for an even coat. I have a steady hand, but because it's so fluid I found it difficult to apply without getting it on my cuticles. It also means that since it's so thin, you need several coats to get an opaque look and to achieve the ultra shine finish. In the pics I have 3 coats on, and to be honest I probably could have done with another one. Because I had to use several coats to build up the colour this also means that it's even easier to chip or damage the finish, and I noticed after only a few hrs that it had started to go in some places - not exactly what I call long lasting.

So that I wouldn't let a freshly applied polish go to complete waste, I decided that I would finish with my newly purchased Avon Nailwear Opal Top Coat. It's a clear top coat with lustrous speckles that gives a prism like finish similar to a fragment of an opal, exactly like what we've seen on Revlon's Moon Candy - so with this you can "candy" any nail polish you want.

I really like the fact that it's a clear top coat so I don't have to consider colour matching or clashing, and can easily combine it with anything. It was easy to apply evenly and dried quickly, so overall I'm impressed by this product and am looking forward to experimenting some more with it. 

After one coat of Opal I had a pretty good but sparse shimmer on my nails, but since I was going for a heavier iridescent look, I applied one more coat and got the finish you can see in the photo below. I think the combination works and having applied the topcoat, I actually got another 2 days wear out of it, without significant "chippage". 

Overall I think that the Opal top coat is a great value for money product that I highly recommend and it definitely exceeded my expectations. However, considering the quality and performance of other Bourjois products I really expected much more from the So Laque nail polish. The shade was lovely but for me it didn't do any of the things it promised - I can't get any more candid than that!

FIGment of imagination

As we're approaching autumn I'm finding myself moving away from the very fruity scents that have dominated and filled my summer days, and I'm more drawn to a for me completely new sweetness - the amazing and distinct scent of Figs. Up until a few months ago I had never tried products with figs and now I'm completely addicted to the natural, warm, earthy and slightly syrupy fragrance.

The first product with fig I'll talk about is a lovely candle from Lily Flame - Mellow Figs & Garden Mint. It's a very unusual blend with soft and mellow sophisticated fig, together with fresh and crisp mint. Together they form a scent that's warm, inviting and clean at the same time. Lily Flame candles don't get enough of a mention in blogs or vlogs I think - I love them because they are well scented without being too heavy, they burn well in the tins (without creating a big crater in the middle), they don't soot and you get a lot of burning time for your money. Even if it weren't for all these great qualities I would probably still like them because they are sooo pretty with the different colored marshmallows on top - they look yummy enough to eat!

A brand that I had heard a lot about, but up until a few months ago never really tried - is Korres, which is a Greek brand with the most amazing products based on natural ingredients found in Greek flora, and they are all beautifully scented. When I first tried the Korres shower gel in Fig it was definitely love at first smell. It's a nice and creamy shower gel that doesn't feel as if it's drying out your skin, and it contains aloe, C, E, zinc and antioxidant enzymes to look after the skin's immune system and reduce the signs of ageing. But what really makes it a stand out product, is the amazing genuine scent of sun-kissed sweet and sour figs.

To go with the shower gel there's the wonderful Korres body butter in Fig. It is incredibly moisturising and the consistency is nice and creamy so you really have to massage it in, really toning your skin and increasing circulation at the same time. You can feel how much good the body butter does your skin and you'll still feel moisturised many hrs afterwards. It has exactly the same rich but soft, green, sweet and juicy smell as the shower gel and luckily it stays on your skin for a long time and I really wish they had a perfume with this exact same scent. I know you can get Korres in department stores or online, or why not just pop down to your local Waitrose, and you can find it there as well - all of a sudden I'm actually looking forward to going food shopping... 

Since Korres don't do a body spray or perfume in Fig, I've looked around for other scents with this modest little fruit, and the closest match that I've found is the delicious Figue De Vigne Eau Fraiche from Caudalie. As you may know Caudalie bases all their products on grapes and vines, which is also the case with this fragrance. It's a gorgeous soft and subtle scent of earthy, juicy fig but that has a sparkling, zesty side from bergamot and a woody, green grassiness that grounds it and makes it mellow and rustic. It's a wonderful authentic, pure and slightly melancholic scent that is perfect for autumn, unlike anything I've ever tried. I absolutely love to wear it and have received so many compliments for it. 

As it turns out, not only are figs nice tasting in a salad - they are also rich in calcium, fibres, antioxidants and a long list of minerals that are good for your overall well-being and ultimately, fig scented products smell incredible! Who knew that figs could be so good?

TANtastic body care

Yes, summer is almost gone and so is my tan - so in an attempt to look like I've just come back from holiday again, I thought I would bring out an old favourite and also test some new items that I've recently bought.

After much looking and lusting I finally got my first Soap & Glory products. I've had my eye on Soap & Glory for longer than I can remember and with all the fantastic reviews out there, I just knew that I had to get a few items. My problem - and it's a great problem to have when it comes to beauty products, is that there's too much to choose from, so I ended up with some shopping catatonia. It doesn't happen very often, but when it does I really do suffer! In the end I went for a novel approach: instead of getting what I just plain wanted - I bought items that I actually do need. So I decided on a body scrub and a body butter to go with it. Since I'm addicted to scent I spent a good while sniffing all the items in Boots and eventually I settled on the Breakfast Scrub Body Exfoliator and the Smoothie Star Body Buttercream.

If we start with the Breakfast Scrub, I'll sum up my experience with it in 3 little words - OH MY GOSH! When you open the tub, it does look a little bit like something you would find in your breakfast bowl, and the content of the scrub also sounds like it's from a breakfast bowl - extracts of banana, almond and honey extracts and oatmeal. They all help to scrub, soften and nourish your skin, all at the same time and when you've used this - your skin will feel very smooth. But the best bit is the smell of maple - it is sweet, crisp and absolutely divine and it actually lasts on your skin! It smells so scrumptious that I almost have to physically restrain myself from tasting it... Anyone else feel the same or just me..? Ok then.... Anyway, even though I can't really see myself using this as part of my morning routine I have to one of the nicest products I've ever tried - in all categories and I'll use it regardless of what time of day it is. 

Having scrubbed my skin, making it nice and smooth for self-tanning I used the Smoothie Star Body Buttercream to moisturise. It's a wonderful rich and thick body cream which is packed with oils and products to moisturise your skin; pistachio, almond, coconut and shea butter. What I like about this buttercream is that you really have to massage it into your skin, it doesn't just absorb as many thinner body lotions do, and that means that you'll have that hydrated feeling for a good few hrs after you've rubbed it in. It's such a luxurious cream and for me it's definitely a rival of the Body Shop Body Butters. Like the other Soap & Glory body creams it smells delicious, and this scent is of pistachio, almond and vanilla. It is a little bit on the synthetic side, but I really like it and again it stays on your skin a long time after you've finished getting ready - YUM!

For the self-tanning part I use Caudalie Divine Legs. I'm not being modest now, but I am probably the world's worst self-tanner, which means that I never ever do it. At least that was until Him Indoors brought home this little beauty for me. It's a lovely golden caramel colored cream and since the bottle comes with a pump, it's easy to get exactly the right amount that you need for the different parts of your body. I find it easy to use because it's slightly thicker than I remember other products being, and also since the cream is tinted - you see exactly where you've applied already and can get an even, non streaky result. Another great thing is that it dries very quickly and it doesn't come with that distinct smell that most fake tan products have and at the end of the day you easily wash it off in the shower - no scrubbing needed, although with the Breakfast scrub, I'll happily scrub away!

I've tried to illustrate the end result in the before and after photos below of my leg. These photos are taken in exactly the same location and light with just a few mins part.

 

Before using Caudalie Divine Legs

After using Caudalie Divine Legs

I think you'll agree that the result is noticeable and it's an immediate subtle, golden shade. If a complete self-tanning amateur like myself can get this result, then it really is a great product and I definitely recommend it if like me, your previous experience with self-tanning wasn't a great one.

So now I'm almost back to the sunny, bronzed shade I've been recently, which makes me feel very energetic, healthy and happy. If you are tempted by the Soap & Glory products, Boots have an offer on just now where you get 3 for the price of 2 of selected Soap & Glory items - and I will be going back this weekend to take them up on this too yummy to turn down offer!

Street Art Nails from Nails Inc

Being a polishaholic these days can be tough. With all the high street shops filled with gorgeous shades and different effect polishes they are enabling me. I am well and truly off the infamous polish wagon. One of the latest crazes is all the different topcoats - ultra shiny, matte, moon candy style, confetti, and of course the good old classic: the glitter coat. And seriously - who doesn't like a little bit of sparkle?

I had had my eye on Nails Inc Old Street Graffiti and shown remarkable restraint for a long time, before I finally caved in. It's a clear lacquer scattered with whimsical, asymmetric and multi coloured glitters in different textures that you use as a top coat over your chosen colour.

The first time I saw this lacquer it was worn over a white colour and I thought - WOW that's pretty cool. As with all glitter polishes no two nails will look the same, and some days the final look turns out better than others (as you can see in the photos) - that's just the way it goes. This lacquer is quite thick - almost gloopy in its consistency and it's also absolutely packed with glitter. However that does make it a bit tricky to work with. Even if it's supposed to be a hap hazard look, there still has to be some even distribution of the glitter across the nail I think - so you may need to put on two or more coats, and still do some touch ups here and there to spread the glitter shapes. 

on Barry M Nail Paint - 66 Matt White

 

on Rimmel Nail Polish - 058 Lemon Drop

on Barry M Nail Paint - 47 Black

I've tried this top coat with different colour combinations and I've also seen it on a nude nail, so really the possibilities are endless. Personally I still think it works best on a white shade or even a black.

As much as I like the graffiti effect it's got to be said that it does come with a couple of warnings. You may find that the glitters catch your clothes, or anything you touch, so be careful if you're wearing delicate lace or anything else that the glitters can pull. Also it is definitely long lasting - in fact it's a complete NIGHTMARE to take off. Even with the strongest, most horrible noxious acetone you can find, you'll have to spend a good few minutes on each fingertip, so when you apply it prepare yourself for wearing street chic for quite a while. 

The graffiti lacquers may not be for everyone since it does have an edge - both style wise and literally, but I think it's fun to mix it up a little. Imagine wearing this with a classic LBD - very fashion forward!!!

Fave 5 Bourjois products

There are so many excellent and affordable brands available on the high street these days, but one brand I have been particularly impressed with this year, is Bourjois. This is a brand that's actually been around for a looong, looong time and I had used Bourjois several times before and even though I had been happy with most of the products, I wasn't completely blown away. But this year I've really become a bit of a Bourjois ambassador. It all started when I discovered the fab Healthy Mix Foundation last year, but also some amazing lip and nail products earlier this year. I know that I have mentioned lip products in other earlier posts, but I still wanted to do a post focusing only on Bourjois as a brand, and to show you my current favourite five products.

Since we've had such amazing weather and I was also lucky enough to go on holiday earlier this year, I've had quite a tan for the last few months and I love to play on this in my make up. As you will have seen in my Summer makeup bag post I've been using golden, bronze shades but also vibrant pops of color on my eyes, especially in the evenings. My go to bronzing powder has been the lovely Delice De Poudre in shade 52. It's such a cute package in the shape of a chocolate bar, and it does smell faintly of cocoa as well. The texture is very fine and pliable, so it's easy to work with both to blend in and to build up, so you can use it either for sculpting or as a blusher. As my tan is gradually fading away this is about to be too dark for me, but I will definitely try to get hold of this product in shade 51 so I can continue to use it for the next month or so - until I'm back to my old translucent self. 

On one of my many beauty scouting trips to Superdrug, my eyes were immediately drawn to an eye pencil that was whispering my name (more shouting actually) and it was the Eye pencil in Bleu Clinquant, which is a gorgeous and intense, metallic electric blue shade that I've been wearing on my lower waterline for a dramatic effect. I am cautious of wearing blue shades that close to my eyes since I have reacted badly before to blue eye pencils and mascaras from other brands, but this eye pencil is not only waterproof, it's also very soft to work with. You barely need any pressure at all, and still you'll end up with a lovely and even application. I can't recommend this eye pencil enough, and if you're looking for more natural shades, Bourjois also has a lovely golden and chocolate brown in the same great formula.b

Chubby sticks are definitely the latest rave and you'll now find some version of them, either for eyes or lips in almost every brand but for me the Bourjois Colour Boost Lip Crayons are among the best, and I now have all the shades currently available. Today I'll only focus on the Lip Crayon in Red Sunset and in Fuchsia Libre since I've talked about the other two shades in my post Lip Service. The formula of the Lip Crayons is amazing - it's smooth, glossy, moisturizing and still highly pigmented. Both colors shown today are shades with a blue undertone; Red Sunset is a bright, deep red electric crimson and Fuchsia Libre is a lovely bright, but soft rose pink. All these shades wear fairly well throughout the day, but you will definitely need to retouch after you've eaten. These are so lovely to wear since they don't dry up, and the fact that they're not sticky in the least is a huge plus in my book - I really hope there will be more shades to look forward to soon!

b

Swatches from left to right:

Delice De Poudre Bronzing Powder - Shade 52

Colour Boost Lip Crayon  - 1 Red Sunrise

Regard Metallise Eye Pencil - 54 Bleu Clinquant

Colour Boos Lip Crayon - 2 Fuchsia Libre

Since I'm a big nail polishaholic I go through nail polish removers faster than the speed of light and one of the best removers available is the Magic Nail Polish Remover. Not only is it quick and easy to use, but it's also acetone free. I have used other versions of this dip and twist product before from other brands, but when you go through as many shades in a week as I do, it's essential that the remover is as gentle as possible, and since this little pot of magic also contains almond oil I get a little bit of care at the same time. If you use glitter polishes it does take longer to remove it, but otherwise in the blink of an eye - the nails are ready to be prettified again.

One of my most loved nail polish shades this summer has been Blue No Blues from the 1 Seconde Nail Polish range. Speed is of the essence when it comes to nails and that's the whole concept of this range - it should take one quick dry coat and then you're ready to go. This is a gel formula, enriched with silicone to give ultra glossy finish (so you don't need to use top coat, another time saving point) and it has a wonderful wide brush to help with even application. It really does work - it's quick to apply, it dries faster than you can say Bourjois and the shine is great. I love this gorgeous aqua blue shade although on my nails it doesn't last more than perhaps 2 days before I have to touch it up again - but on the other hand when touching up only takes a second to do, it's not really a big deal.

Blue No Blues

If you haven't tried any of the Bourjois products before I hope I have tempted you by introducing my favourite five and if you're already a Bourjois fan - which are your most loved products? If there's another particular brand that you would like to see my favourites from, please leave me a comment below!

Jo Malone Peony & Blush Suede

I love Jo Malone fragrances and every time there's a new release, I'm right there in the queue to test it out. I've already given a loving home to some of the earlier releases this year and since they are limited editions I treasure them and try to make them last as long as possible. As soon as I heard about the release of Peony and Blush Suede a month or so ago, I knew that I had to try it since Peonies are some of my favourite flowers. And as soon as I had tried the fragrance I knew this darling needed to be in my life NOW, so I got myself both the cologne and a candle in this gorgeous scent.

This fragrance is a delightful and light, sheer floral with fruity elements. As you first spray it on you'll immediately notice the wonderful, warm, delicate and slightly "rosy pink" scent of peonies. For me it's such a soft and comforting scent and it reminds me of walking through my mothers garden where I grew up. Even though the cologne opens as a crisp and clean floral, it never becomes too sweet or overpowering, probably because of the clear fruity notes of apples that keeps it airy and fresh. Finally there's is a gentle hint of roses and a barely noticeable jasmine. I'm a huge fan of jasmine, but I'm glad it's not more prominent since I think it might have made the cologne a bit too sweet and heavy. Some of the other Jo Malone colognes are not very long lasting, but I'm positively surprised at how long Peony and Blush Suede lingers after you've sprayed and it leaves a subtle bouquet on your hair and clothes.

I haven't tried the candle yet, since I'm waiting to finish my English Pear and Freesia first but I'm sure it will be amazing, and I can smell the fragrance without even taking off the lid. 

To sum it up this is a striking, elegant and inviting soft scent that could be a modern classic for me. The deluxe feeling of this scent is reinforced with the gorgeous and stylish Jo Malone packaging and the care the shop assistants show when they wrap everything up - it's such a treat to get Jo Malone products!

To me Peony and Blush Suede smells heavenly and it has to be one of the most incredible well balanced scents I have tried for a long time - and since I'm a fragrance fanatic, trying new things almost every week - THAT says a lot!

Get hooked on Macadamia hair products

As a self-confessed beauty junkie there are certain products that are on the MUST TRY list e.g. Bioderma, Alpha H Liquid Gold, Origins Drink Up Intensive Overight Mask and Macadamia hair products. On one of my recent visits to amazing Beautybay.com, I saw the Macadamia Natural Oil Get Hooked pack and thought - what an excellent way to try this out since you get two travel size products to test - the Deep Repair Masque (yeeeaaay!) and the Healing Oil Treatment.

The Macadamia products contain natural oils from Macadamia Nuts and Argan Fruits that help to deeply nourish and rejuvenate your hair, leaving it smooth and shiny and let's start with the Deep Repair Masque, which might be one of the most talked about products from the Macadamia range. It's a very intense hair treatment that's supposed to do miracles for dry and damaged hair by rebuilding it and adding lots of nourishment, but it's so potent they recommend that you don't use it more than twice a week. The masque has a luxurious, rich and creamy texture and you massage it into your hair, comb it through and leave it for about 10 mins before washing it out again. For some reason I thought that the masque would actually smell of nuts (maybe that's just me), but it definitely doesn't - instead it has a light, fresh and lovely scent with a faint apple note that stays on your hair for a while afterwards.

I tend to be very generous with the amount I use for hair treatments because I like to feel that it's doing something, but with this masque I only needed an amount a little bigger than that of a 50p coin to get enough, and in total I got 3 and a bit uses out of the sachet. Afterwards my hair felt so soft and nourished just as if I had just been to the hair dresser, and this feeling lasted for days - I was a very happy bunny. 

The other product in the set was the Healing Oil Treatment which again is particularly great for dry or damaged hair and this can be used in several different ways - either to help style your hair or you can add it to the masque to give it some extra boost. I've mainly used the oil for styling - adding it to the ends of my hair, and also to control fly aways. It's a really lovely thick oil, much thicker than other ones I've used before that have been very thin and fluid, so you only need very little of it. Despite being a thicker oil it feels surprisingly light on the hair and it blends in very well, so you don't have that greasy feeling that some hair oils can leave. This actually smells very nutty and spicy - definitely more perfumed than the masque, but it's not overpowering in any way and overall it's so lovely to use, leaving your hair feeling protected and amazingly smooth and groomed.

It has to be said that neither of the Madacamia products are budget buys and they are pricier than most hair care ranges. However, since you don't need to apply very much of them and you won't use the hair masque more than twice a week - they will last a while. So if you can afford it, it's an amazing product, definitely worth the hype. 

I also got myself a Macadamia Natural Oil No Tangle Brush, after having heard so much about this type of brush. Since I always get a big kink on the left side (it's a bit strange because I don't get it anywhere else - Him Indoors calls it crazy hair... nice of him), I use a detangling spray to make my hair behave as it should, and also to make the whole disciplining part less painful. What's so great about these brushes is that they are specially designed to sort out your hair with minimum pain and hair breakage. I know you probably won't believe this until you try it yourself, but the brush just glides through your hair with minimum effort - it is absolutely fantastic! If you don't have a brush like this, you HAVE to get one and it'll probably be one of the kindest things you can do to your hair to help it stay strong and healthy. I know you can get Tangle Teezers from Boots for about £12, but if you go to Beautybay.com you can get the Macadamia one for half the price.

So the question is, am I hooked on Macadamia? - You BET I am, and I will definitely be investing in the full size products, all in the name of strong shiny hair - after all, it's the one accessory I wear every single day!

Manic.Monday: 50 shades of grey? You only need one with YSL Gris Underground

There are many premium brand nail polishes out there, but one of my favourites is definitely the YSL range. I now have several of their gorgeous polishes and they are all amazing, but today I'll continue exploring the what's included in the A/W 2013 collections and trends. YSL have released 3 new shades as part of their A/W makeup collection this year which is a very striking, glamorous, vampy and dark look - you may have seen the stunning campaign photos with Cara Delevingne - WOW is all I say.

The polish that Cara is wearing is Gris Underground which is an amazing, opaque ash grey shade that would fit right in with the camouflage trend seen on the runways of Michael Kors, Alexander Wang and Christopher Kane.

YSL offers a lovely range of colors. I have previously shown a favourite of mine, Bleu Majorelle which is a great example from the vibrant and dramatic options, and here's an example from the other side of the spectrum with a more toned down, neutral, "city" look. There is definitely a YSL shade to suit everyone and this delicate grey is so pretty and unexpected on your nails.

These polishes have the most amazing wide brush. If I place it in the middle of my nail and gently press down to fan the brush out, it'll cover 99% of my nails on all fingers (except my thumb), so you will actually get as good as full coverage in one clean sweep - it is FANTASTIC! This and the great formula which is a little bit thicker than most, but still very workable - makes it so easy to apply evenly. After one coat you do have super coverage, but since I like my nails very opaque I always have 2 coats + topcoat, which is what I'm wearing in the pic. You will easily get 4 days wear out of this polish and although it is a bit more pricey than some other brands, I look at it as an investment (not that I need an excuse really).

 

It doesn't happen very often that you get great range of colors, great formula, great brush and great long wear in one single polish brand, but for me YSL doesn't disappoint in any of these areas. This lovely muted grey makes me think of film noir, and femme fatales that you would see in old spy movies, and although I won't be trying the very powerful and daring eye makeup that we've seen I will definitely enjoy wearing Gris Underground. I may have found the only grey shade I need, but I suspect it won't be the only YSL polish I'll pick up this season.

Michael Kors A/W Collection 2013

Time to start over? Get some help from Origins

I am very rarely stuck - as in without beauty products, and when the time came to change moisturizer I had my next one lined up already and it had waited patiently on my bathroom shelf for more than a month to be used. Since I've spent a lot of time outdoors this summer (wearing sun screen of course!) I wanted to try a product that focused not only on hydrating but also on restoring the skin - so enter Origins Starting Over which is an age-erasing moisturizer. As with other Origins products it contains 100% natural ingredients, and in this case they are supposed to be so effective that Origins promotes the cream as "Nature's alternative to injections".

One of the main active ingredients in Starting Over is Mimosa, which apparently is great at stimulating the skin cells to produce more collagen and this protein is what helps to keep the skin strong and toned. As I write this I'm looking out at the massive Mimosa tree we have in front of the house and wonder if I could perhaps get some more use out of it, in addition to it looking pretty in the spring...  ANYWAY, other ingredients are argan leaf, green algae and horse chest nut extract - which will help to protect your skin's structure, add antioxidants and smooth the skin texture. In short this moisturizer is packed with products to reduce the appearance of lines and wrinkles, at the same time as it helps to rebuild the skin.

The moisturizer has a light and creamy texture that just melts into the skin in a flash, and makes it feel very smooth, velvety and firm. It has the same delicious, sweet but fresh orange cream soda scent as the Drink Up Intensive Overnight mask, yummy - I almost want to lick my fingers every time I've used it...

I've noticed that my skin feels very toned and soft however it's not as deeply hydrated as I would ideally like it to be. The cream does a great job at nourishing, but when I use this as a day cream (on top of my KIKO Skin trainer serum) my skin feels a tiny tiny bit tight towards the end of the day, so I've started to apply a bit more of the cream than I usually do to see if this will fix it.

Overall, this cream is so refreshing to use and the amazing scent stays with you for a while so the next time you're looking for a product to give your nourishment, you might want to try this one. Whatever you're going back to after the summer, this lovely moisturizer will help your and your skin to start over - and why not get it from Origins online, and you'll get 2 samples as well as free delivery!