Revlon just bitten Lipstain in Frenzy ♥

 

      After much deliberation I settled on the shade 'Frenzy' from their lip stain and balm collection. The whole idea is that the stain (which in this case resembles a felt tip pen) is accompanied by a lip balm on the opposite end of the pen so that you don't have to carry two seperate products around for touch ups. The first time I used this I made the mistake of applying the stain AFTER using the balm which apparently is a big no-no and resulted in patchy, uneven colour all around. After reading the instructions a little more carefully I realised that you're meant to use the stain on completely dry lips in order to ensure even application... whoops!

     I've been after a lip stain for a while as I love the idea of them giving a subtle flush of colour that's more suited to everyday wear than bold or heavy lipstick. I know a lot of brands have jumped on the lip stain/paint bandwagon recently but after hearing such good things about Revlon's 'Just Bitten' range I opted to give them a go first. At £8 they were a little pricier than some of the lip stains bought out by other high street brands but I figured you probably get what you pay for!

 

Elvive Extraordinary Oil

      

 I'm a lover of haircare and a massive lover of hair oils, so I'm always on the lookout for the next best one. When I saw this one in Superdrug a few months ago on offer I thought why not have a try because if it works its a massive bottle and will last me a lifetime!So then I was offered to try it out and today I recieved this lovely sample!
       Extraordinary Oil can be used in 3 different ways which I think gives a good value for money if you are looking for an all around product that isn't going to break the bank, you can pop it on before washing, use it on damp hair before styling and also use it as a finishing oil.
        I have tried all three ways out and I have to say for me using it as a finishing oil is not something I like as I have a bit of a problem with the smell and also because personally I like to use a shine spray after styling my hair so adding oil just seems pointless and there's no need to grease up my hair unnecessarily.
       I love using it before shampooing though as it seems like its an added treatment, I just apply to my hair concentrating on the mid lengths and ends, I leave it on for a good 10-15 minutes before shampooing and it seems to add a little lusciousness to my hair and makes my split ends seem non existent. This also leaves a lovely shine to my hair and a sort of effortless weightless feeling, it also helps minimise frizz and flyaways.
      I occasionally use this after washing my hair like I would use a normal hair oil and it works OK but just not to what I feel a hair oil should do, for some reason when I use it this way it feels like it is doing hardly anything for my hair other than just taming a few flyaways and making is easier to comb... I feel like when you use it this way it works more like how a serum would.
        I am not too sure if I actually like this product or if I am just using it up but I absolutely hate the smell too like I have mentioned above... It smells like hairspray and spirits sometimes this smell can linger and sometimes it just fades away into a quite nice smelling scent. This is another reason why I like to use it with the before shampooing method.
       Over all I would say this was a good all round multi oil or maybe something for someone who was just getting into hair oil, if you are looking for something with a little more depth and are a die hard hair oil fan I would say it's best to give this a miss.... I know I shall be in the future!
What are your thoughts on hair oils? Have you tried this one?xxx

Kirsties Vintage Home ♥

  Is anyone else here obsessed with watching Kirsties Vintage Home? I really enjoy watching it and picking up some great ideas and tips on how to transform any room into a chic vintage style interior. Kirstie Allsopp has also designed and created a range of homeware accessories.
The chic Savannah Coral pattern consists of green chickens and pink and blue chicks, with a mix of leaves and roses. The birds are displayed over a leaf print background in subtle tones of stone and cream. I have the oven mitt and set of tea towels, but the design is also available in oven glove, apron, tea cosy, door stop, bag, and table cloth. I love the design on these, especially the dainty little pink roses! They would look perfect in a country style kitchen.
Here are some lovely photos of the collection:

Vintage signs

I'm have been spending the day doing all things blog related so while working on another post i came across these incredible vintage retro inspired signs to hang in your room or kitchen and I knew I had to do a post on these straight away, the seller has so much more to choose from but I had to limit myself to a good selection. I love them all so much and I wish I could have them all hanging in my kitchen!
You can get them for £5.49 each from here
Do you like these signs? Which one is your favourite?

Batiste Dry Shampoo

I bought this, took its picture, uploaded it to a post, saved it to a draft, and waited for the day I knew I would right only a lackluster review on this product. I've never been one to jump on the dry shampoo wagon because, let's be honest here, I didn't really think some magical powder would suddenly soak up all the oily bits in my hair and BABAM, fresh and cleaned. Loads and loads of bloggers hoot and holler and rave about the Batiste dry shampoo so of course I got super curious, but still, didn't think it would be magical.

      Welp ... I was so totally wrong. Now I'm going to join the herds of bloggers raving about this product! This magical canister of powder is amazeballs to the max! Let me start with the superficial; the packaging on this can? product? is so cute. I love the little flowers and the cute blue font. It appeals to me in so many ways that I actually wouldn't mind having it out as a mini desk decoration. Next, the smell. Oh, the scent is delicious and I want it made into a perfume the scent is nice and sometimes I find myself just spraying this in my hair so it has a lovely scent to it. I wish I could describe the scent properly to you all but just ... I can't see anyone disliking it!

The product itself is something to get used to if you, like me, have never used dry shampoo before. You're supposed to pick up your hair and spray at the roots, with the can about 5 inches from your hair and spray! At first it looked liked it wasn't doing a darn thing and I put it away thinking "I knew it, nothing special..." It says to massage your hair after spraying, but I found it works WAY better if you just leave it and let it be for a few minutes. When I massaged right after spraying it was like I rubbed all the product out. But it actually works, it really does! How do I know, for sure? On Saturday it had been 3 days since I'd washed my hair (don't judge, let's just pretend I was doing it for the sake of experimentation ;) ) and I had to go to work that day. My hair was looking like an oily mess and I looked at this bottle and thought "now is the time to prove yourself" Prove itself it did! My train wreck of a do turned slightly more voluminous and made it look like "2nd day hair" Sure I sprayed a gallons worth but it worked and I looked totally presentable for work! My verdict is that everyone needs at least one dry shampoo in their collection of hair products for emergency uses. It's seriously a life saver and the Batiste one works magnificently! I wash my hair every other day, but when I don't feel up to it, this is so handy.

What do you guys think of the Batiste dry shampoo? Have you tried any others? Let me know!

How to : DIY Pretty Vintage Wooden Clothes Hangers ♥

     When I take photos of my new fashion buys for my blog, I usually hang them on a boring naff plastic hanger and then on nail on my wall. Not only does it look a bit tacky but it doesn't do my new item much justice either, hanging from something so ugly. So I had been hunting for a while for some pretty hangers to use instead. I saw lots of those silky hangers, but these were too narrow and also too straight. I couldn't find what I wanted, so I set about making my own!
      I wanted them to be pale, pretty and girly. So I did a complete overhaul on these wooden bargain hangers, which not only look pretty good I think, but they were really cheap and easy to make too!

So here's my tutorial:
 

 

Get some wooden hangers (I'm everyone has at least one wooden hanger at home). Mine was without the bottom pole (used for hanging trousers) as I only use my hangers for dresses.


 

 

Lightly sand down the wood to remove the glossy stain.( I got my sandpaper from Poundland)

 

Paint your hangers using normal cheap white wall paint. 

Leave them to dry, and then paint on another coat.
 

 

Using some patterned paper, cut out whatever design or pattern you would like on your hanger. I used a pair of small nail scissors to get a really close neat trim. This is just a gift bag I got from Poundland ages ago. But you can use any kind of paper.

 

 

Then use PVA glue to stick the paper onto your dry painted hangers. Press them on well so they don't peel off.

 

 

And this is what you should end up with! A really simple and easy way to get custom hangers exactly how you want them, and I got 1 for only £1!

What do you think? :)

I can now hang my new buys up in style! I love the rustic effect of the white paint, and the floral pattern looks like it has been handpainted on!

 

Max Factor Max Efffect Lip Gloss in Romantic Pink ♥

Ok, lip gloss! When I bought this little gem, there weren’t half as many colours in it as there are now. In fact, there were only four. I am very pale, but I have naturally quite pigmented lips and dark hair, so lighter colours look better on me as a rule than darker ones. I so wish I could wear pretty dark reds but they look weird on me. So I bought 06 – Cloudy Red. I could already tell it’d be a good colour – but I didn’t realise exactly how much I’d come to love it!
    This lip gloss really goes a long way, for a start. You don’t need too much, and I always have to squeeze a bit out onto my finger rather than use the slanted-attempt-at-an-applicator-tip to apply it, because otherwise I just get way too much. It has a very sweet, quite distinctive smell/taste, which I personally love though others may find it a bit too strong. Each colour has a different taste, though, so be sure to sniff before you buy!
       Once it’s on your face, you’ll notice that it’s very slippery and creamy in texture. It doesn’t go tacky; it’s one of those glosses that always feels wet. While this gives a lovely high shine, of course, it does mean that if it’s windy your hair will be stuck to your mouth in no time! But then, that goes for all gloss up to a point – it’s an occupational hazard of having beautiful lips…
      My only gripe about this product is that when it fades or wears off, I don’t particularly like the effect that’s left. Some colour/shine does stay on, even after drinking a takeaway coffee, as I found! But I don’t particularly like the texture of colour that’s left on my lips – it looks a little flat and smudgy. However, I’m obviously not expecting it to be all that longlasting, so it’s not a huge minus for me.
      The perfect colour and lovely look of this gloss mean that it’s quickly become my most trusted favourite. I highly recommend this lip gloss; it’ll last you ages, as you get 13ml for £4.99, and now there are loads of different colours and scents to choose from, I’m sure there’s one for everyone!

Yes, I love this product, and suggest you try this too for a light red hue on the lips.

 

Loreal Nude Magique bb cream

   Like the Garnier Miracle Skin Perfector B.B cream, this one is another western one which is very very different to the traditional Korean and Japanese ones. This was the first B.B cream I tried that came out plain as paper white! I was pretty shocked but here's the catch.

The Loreal Nude Magique has what is described as "smart pigment capsules". When applied you can feel it is sort of grainy. I know this can bother some people but I find as you use it more you do get a lot less grainy-ness. Most is at the beginning of the tube so persevere if you find you are put off by that! As you rub this in, the colour goes from white to nude skin colour and supposedly these pigment capsules are able blend in with your natural skin tone and cover up any redness ect...

What I love about this B.B cream is that it is very very light. Almost like water and will drip down your face if left too long. The coverage is light and will only cover redness and slight blemishes. It does not feel thick, sticky or dewy but instead adapts to your skin. I really liked the applicator, as it had a small nozzle that enables you to only squeeze out a small amount at once.

The tube is nice, it has a slight purple pearlescent glow and you can easily squeeze out the product with ease. Its nicely shaped to throw in your handbag.

The end result is very nice though, with great coverage.

Paperchase budgerigaga pencilcase

 

 

 

 

And from the Budgerigaga collection, I love the A4 Scrapbook £10; the Bird House storage box £8; the Foldaway Bag £4, the Magnetic List Pad £5 and the Sticky Notes £4 (all below):

 

 

Clarins New Double Serum ♥

  As I was picking up some baby food for my little brother from boots, I was offered to try out a sample from Clarins.
So, here you go, new clarins double serum specially designed for complete age control.Obviously, I'm a bit young for this, so I personally looked for key factors of how the serum goes onto skin, what feeling it leaves and etc.
So, firstly about what it is. This is more than a simple serum, it is a complete age control concentrate with 20 plant extracts which stimulates all skins vital functions.
Why double chamber than? In order to preserve the quality of the liposoluble and hydrosoluble ingredients, the two phases found in Double Serum never come into contact. A balanced amount of each phase is automatically mixed upon  application.
When I applied it onto my face I was very impressed. The texture is really unique as I have never came across such a light formula despite being oily formula. I'm not sure about the effect but I have read many reviews and most are impressed. And the scent is lovely.
It was actually created by Japanese perfumer and its a blend of fruity and floral notes that are calming and fresh.
You can get this serum from John Lewis for £55!

 

Gift from PaperBlanks ♥

 

I was recently contacted by a representative from Paperblanks to see if I would like to have one of their products to keep me going with my 100 day no spending ban. I of course jumped at the chance, as I love pretty and useful things!

I choose this beautiful booklet from Romantic Sensibility range. You can also get them in lots of different sizes and colours. It has a very good quality paper and this is very useful for me as I love using felt tips and strong colours. I absolutely fell in love with its design. It has a sleek professional look when on other side it is very elegant and unique. It also has inspired by antique leather binding that I also love. The special inside pocket is just amazing for keeping bits of paper and card that you might need later.Now, I use for taking notes on how much money I spend and it really helps me to stay on track.

This journal retails for £12.99. Thanks Paperblanks!

 

 

 

Cath Kidston new range

Hi ladies! Today I just poped into Cath Kidston website and I want to share with you what I found out. I thought I'd give you a little glimpse of the new Spring/Summer 2013 Cath Kidston range. They've brought out some new prints including: yachts, bicycles, and trains! They've also got some new florals and relaunched their strawberry print! And if you're a student you can get 10% off with discount code UNI2.
There's tonnes of Cath Kidston stuff on my latest wishlist. The kitchen scene worktop saver and floral print rolling pin are to die for! I love their new style handbags and printed skirts too. I'm so excited about summer now after looking through their new range! Here's some of my favorite bits ...